Left in the Dark
by ProbablySatan
Summary: Sango and Kohaku are not the only demon slayers left. Sango discovers that her cousin, Kaori is still alive and fighting. Kaori joins their group but is torn away when she discovers something life-changing. How could a demon be a demon slayer's father? Oc
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: New story :D Actually my first Inuyasha story. The main character is OC, so if you don't like my made up characters then don't read. And I usually don't say the pairings but if you're a fan of Sango/Miroku(and hate any other pairings concerning the two that isn't that then) this probably isn't the story for you. **

**I actually planned to publish this when I finished writing all the chapters but I got really uninspired around chapter 16 so I decided to publish it and see if I get reviews. (Which help inspire me ;D)**

**Also, sorry for any grammatical errors, I did spell check this and proof-read it but I tend to notice errors **_**after**_** I publish it.**

**Enough of my rambling...**

**hope you enjoy. :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.**

_L e f t I n T h e D a r k_

1

She gasped. She felt the sharp cold metal on her throat. If she dared to moved an inch, blood would be spilled. Her attacker's other hand gripped her shoulder holding her in place.

"Son, is this one of the demon slayers?" The man said; his voice was gruff and deep.

He looked at his son who had piercing dark green eyes and a mop of brown hair. He glanced at her. He looked her over; "Yes."

"A woman!" His father sounded surprised that she was indeed a slayer. In fact the only slayer from that village alive; with the exception of two. The man pressed the sword into her neck. "What is your name, girl?"

"Kaori," She replied. Then stronger she said, "My name is Kaori."

"Hm." The man withdrew his sword. "Why are you still alive?"

She was still alive because of her refusal to die. It was true; even if it meant abandoning her village while all the demons attacked. Though, she wasn't so sure why she wanted to live now, she'd lost everyone she'd know and loved. Then a thought struck her and an electric current ran through her body. Father! She thought. He went with the other slayers...they _had_ to be alive. Of course they were.

Kaori snorted and said, "I could ask you the same." It was true it was basically a kill-or-be-killed world out here. Those who couldn't fight were weak. Kaori refused to be weak.

Her father always said that the demons who could take the form of a human were the most powerful. He was correct all those times except one. Which was now these demons who captured her were not that strong. Their strength was in numbers.

Kaori soon realized that she was in a room of some sort. She cursed herself for not being aware of her surroundings. Her hands were bound behind her back, yet she was free to move her feet. Not only were these men weak, they were also stupid. That was a horrible combination. Kaori wondered briefly how the two demons could have survived so long.

Suddenly the man sniffed, "There's something odd in your blood."

Kaori went to move back but the man was gripping her shoulder tightly. She grimaced when he blew his sour breath on her face.

"Where is the shard of the Shikon jewel?"

Kaori blinked in surprise, "The jewel?"

"Yes! That's what I said. It originated in your village, master said it was there so we attacked it hoping to find it. When you ran off we assumed you were protecting it."

Kaori froze and the wheels turned in her head. But this wasn't the time nor place to be trying to figure this out. She didn't have time.

Kaori sneered, "We haven't had the jewel in years! And even if I did have it, you'd have to kill me to get."

"That can be arranged," The man's son spoke up from a corner in a deadly tone and a smirk on his lips.

"Calm Raiden." Said the man though he had a smirk on his lips also, as if the idea was appealing. Raiden's father seemed pretty hypocritical since he was the exact opposite of calm.

"Well, I can understand why you would _want_ a shard." Kaori spoke up boldly.

Raiden glanced at her, Kaori could feel his demonic energy. It was strong, stronger than his father's. Maybe she misjudged him he was apparently the stronger and smarter of the two. That made getting out of there slightly more difficult. But maybe she'd enjoy this challenge; if it didn't get her killed.

"Hm." Raiden said, he stood and strolled over to her. "Father, she has power I can feel it. Any demons in your ancestry?"

Kaori blanched, "_No!" _She took a step back. Never! She's been trained to _fight_ demons. It was an insult to be called one.

"But you have power." He said. "And you're going to tell me what it is."

Kaori snorted as if to say 'I-am?' Kaori didn't let any surprise pass through her cool exterior when Raiden grabbed her black hair.

"I can lie to you if that's what you would like." Kaori replied easily. "But I have no power."

"You little witch." Kaori winced then cursed herself for doing so. "I can feel the power radiating off of you in waves." Raiden cut her cheek with a small knife.

It stung; but Kaori didn't show any signs of being hurt. She felt warm sticky blood on her face, she wanted to wipe it off but her hands were bound. A maroon droplet of blood fell towards the floor.

"I told you. I. Don't. Know." Kaori was ready to go. She glanced around the room. All of her weapons were about five feet away on a small table. Her knives and katana were discarded carelessly as was her black cloak on top. Her cloak worked to disguise her weapons. Little did they know that she also had a few things up her sleeve. Literally.

The thought struck her, she'd been such an idiot. Well actually, her kidnappers were. Raiden still held her hair so she brought her knee up and kneed him in the groin. He doubled over in pain on the floor, cussing her with ever groan. While Kaori was conversing with the demons she'd been working the knots that tied her hands together. They'd been loose for a while she just had to wait for the right moment. And it came.

Pulling a knife from her boot she ran to the door.

"Her boot?" She heard Raiden's father murmur "Why didn't we think of that?"

Kaori managed to grab her cloak and a few other knives, she was saddened that she couldn't nick her katana. She had become quite fond of it. 'Oh well' she sighed. She'd have to get another.

Her escape, wouldn't be easy.

She drew a knife and threw it at Raiden's father. It didn't kill him. That was not what she had intended doing. It went through his sleeve binding him to the ground. With his free left arm he reached to retrieve it. Kaori threw the next knife, trapping both of his arms. She did his feet as well. Just to make sure he wouldn't get up she hit him on the head with the hilt of her knife, he fell unconscious.

Now she had to deal with Raiden. She assumed his strength came from his mother because his father was basically useless. Raiden was gathering some sort of dark energy, he blending into the shadows. Making it hard for her to see where her was. That was a dangerous thing. Suddenly something slashed her leg, she fell forward and it lashed again on her back. Kaori clenched her teeth and silenced the scream that was threatening to escape. She willed herself to stand grimacing at the pain.

Kaori stood, things were not looking up. The room had darkened and Kaori could only make out Raiden's figure for a second before he disappeared in the shadows. There was another slash and Kaori felt warm sticky blood on her forehead. She winced and made a dash across the room. She got to the corner and grabbed her cloak, knives, and most importantly her katana.

Kaori slashed violently yet blindly around the room. She could see nothing. So instead she tried extending her senses. Finally she felt his presence across the room. She needed to hit and run. Demons healed fast, as soon has she made her last move he would be half way healed.

Kaori ran towards him quiet and deadly. She slashed his legs so he wouldn't be walking anywhere. She heard a groan and he feel, his legs bleeding. Kaori hit him with the hilt of her katana, also knocking him unconscious.

After that Kaori dashed out the door, she was limping, bloody, and bruised. But she was alive. And at that moment she didn't know if that was a good thing or not. She thought that she was more broken up on the inside then on the outside. And she was exactly right.

But she did have a reason for living. The thought slightly lifted spirits. There was still her father and her brother, Akio.

Kaori wanted to go on the mission too, but her father and her uncle said that she was one of the best slayers they had. She had to stay and protect the village with some of the other less-skilled slayers. She didn't do a lot of protecting; she did some running. Like a coward. She thought.

She's wanted to go with, but her uncle was the chief of the village. He'd trained her with her cousin, what he said went.

But the village was gone, as was her mother and new born sister. The village went down in vein, they hadn't even had a shard of the jewel. _Everyone_ was gone.

And suddenly Kaori wanted to break down right there. And she did, she knew it wasn't the wisest decision, but it was one she could handle. There was no one to watch her mourn or cry.

Kaori may appear unprotected and venerable but she was unconsciously creating a barrier around her self. Masking her presence from attackers sight. She was blending in with the night, without even knowing that she was doing so.

Kaori fell asleep with the taste of salty tears on her lips, her cloak was curled around her like a blanket and her fingers were tight on her katana. But she wasn't at peace. She was far from it.

**o~O~o**

Kaori woke up to a growling stomach. She was hungry and weak. She grimaced when she stood. And cursed at her foolishness. She'd fallen asleep, leaving her wounds unattended.

She looked around for a piece of material to wrap around the wounds with. She groaned when she realized that she was clad in her slayer outfit. She couldn't tear any material from that.

Kaori touched the wound on her forehead, it wasn't bad as she thought. She applied a little pressure and winced.

Kaori stood and ignored the pain. She wrapped her cloak around her self and put her knives and sword in place.

Kaori frowned and her heart ached, she was used to waking up to her father's snore or her mother's smile. Sometimes even her younger sister's cry. The best days were when Akio and her cousin woke her up. They'd often go to the stream.

Kaori banished those painful memories from her mind.

She found a small river after about three hours of walking. She knelt down next to the body of water and cupped her hands. She took a sip of water, liking how it felt cool going down her dry throat. Kaori put some water on her wounds in an attempt to clean them.

She grimaced again and continued on her way. She decided that she was going to go to the castle where the slayers had been sent.

She was actually halfway there, she'd be there by dusk.

Telling her friends about the destruction of their village would be hard. There would be outbursts of anger and tears of sadness and despair. She had gone through those same things. Her heart ached when she thought of all the loved ones they could no longer return to. Sisters and brother and husbands and wives. Family and friends. And a place called home was now gone.

Kaori briefly wondered about Kirara, if she was still there and alive.

Finally Kaori saw the trees parting and knew that she was close.

"Ack!" Kaori yelled as she fell towards the ground. She clutched at her wounded leg and moaned. Kaori slowly rose and looked back at what she tripped over.

A body.

Of one of the slayers.

Cold sweat broke out over Kaori and she raced towards the small clearing. More bodies; every single one of them she knew.

Finally she stumbled over to Akio's body. It was bloody and bruised. Kaori wept over her brother's lifeless form.

He wasn't supposed to die! He couldn't! She could almost hear him saying something like 'Why are you crying like a baby Kaori? Cheer up' He was always preachy and would say 'Life's too short.'

Kaori touched his cold hand, wanting him to squeeze back. She wanted him to shove her off of him and tell her to go away like all the other times. She wanted to argue with her brother, her best friend, her protector.

Then she noticed her father, he was off to the side. Kaori stumbled towards him. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at his wide glassy brown eyes. Eyes that used to shine bright with kindness and wisdom were now dull and terrified.

Kaori touched his face and wanted him to jump and say 'Fooled ya!' like the time she was six. This time she did sob loudly. She clutched her father's ripped shirt. They're all gone. All of them. She was alone. She wanted him to come to life and hug her and whisper that everything was going to be fine. But she had to stand and face reality.

She stood wobbly on her feet and whispered, "Who did this?" She would kill them. It would be a slow antagonizing death. She wasn't slow, she connected the pieces. The person behind the attack against her village was the person who had killed the slayers.

Kaori screamed, it was a sound filled with rage and sadness. The hatred shone in her usually warm red eyes as she slowly absorbed the pain and truth of the world.

Then her expression became blank except for the look of determination in her eyes. She wouldn't let her emotions get in the way. And she wouldn't give up until whoever did this was dead.

Kaori glanced up, she felt as if someone was watching her. She stared into the face of a man with long black hair and calm red eyes. He was starring at her.

Kaori grimaced and turned. She had to train. She had to get stronger. She would avenge their deaths.

**-:- -:- -:-**

Naraku watched the girl through curious red eyes. She had come and caused quite a scene. With her yelling and crying Naraku was disturbed from his meditating. And that was a problem.

He walked outside and saw the girl who was slightly familiar. He noted that she looked slightly like that other slayer girl, Sango.

Naraku called Kohaku to him. He'd already given him a shard of the jewel, luckily he hadn't erased his memory.

"Who is that girl? Do you know her?"

Kohaku nodded, he had his memories for now, but his emotions were gone. "That is my cousin."

"Oh?" Naraku raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, her mother is my dad's sister."

"Hm, can she fight?"

"Yes, she is as good as Sango."

Naraku lifted his eyes to the girl who had just disappeared into the forest limping. "She is in pain." He mused. "A lower class demon will take her out. Don't worry Kohaku, she'll be dead soon."

**A/N:**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOH drama already?**

****Cough* if that even counts has drama.**

**REVIEW.**

**Please.**

**If you do**

**I will give you a virtual huge. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello readers :D (If there are any)**

**I am back.**

**So, upon proof-reading this I realized that this story wasn't as good as I originally thought it was. I wrote this about a year ago and finally decided to publish it, but I think my writing had improved since then. (I would hope so.)**

**But I do promise you, dear readers, that this fic **_**does**_** get better and will begin to make more sense. XD**

**Warning****: ****The main character is OC, so if you don't like my made up characters then don't read. And I usually don't say the pairings but if you're a fan of Sango/Miroku(and hate any other pairings concerning the two that isn't that) then this probably isn't the story for you.**

**Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Inyasha.**

_L e f t I n T h e D a r k_

2

Kaori felt her energy level slowly decrease. She was tired and sad. Her body was aching and she was weak. The wort part was that she didn't even know where she was going.

Kaori kept walking with the occasional stumble. She felt like an idiot, but she was determined to do whatever it takes to get her revenge.

She'd get her revenge. She was sure of it.

Finally, Kaori gave up, she was just too tired and weak to carry on. She decided to rest against a tree for a while. She pulled her cloak around her for warmth and slowly closed her eyes.

There was a rustle from behind her, Kaori was slow getting up but her katana was out and raised in a blink of an eye.

A demon, Kaori noticed. It was a large black bird-thing with a gigantic sharp beak. It had three red eyes and sharp claws. It swooped down low and pecked her in her bad leg. Kaori almost fell over but gained her balance back quickly.

By this point Kaori was completely drained. She was panting and there were beads of sweat falling from her forehead. This was too much for a person, even her.

The bird pecked her side and she yelled out. It's eyes were dark but filled with hatred. It circled her and made mocking noises. It pecked her several times, if Kaori was 100 percent the bird would've been dead in a second. But she wasn't at her best, she wasn't even at her worst. This is _bad_.

_Someone planned this attack,_ Kaori thought. Some one was watching her.

Kaori took out one of her knives from under her cloak. She watched the bird circle her and waited for the right moment.

Kaori threw the knife with all the energy she had left. She knew she'd killed the bird when she heard it's 'thump' as it's body made contact with the ground. Kaori slid against the tree again and fell asleep.

**-:- -:- -:-**

_Kaori's father's face appeared in the darkness, which was vast and never-ending. His face looked saddened and regretful he muttered something repeatedly. "Not...daughter...not...Kaori...apologize...not..her."_

_Kaori couldn't figure out what was going on, "What? What are you saying?" But her father walked away shaking his head._

"_Wait!" Kaori chased after her father, running at full speed. But she couldn't catch him; he had faded away._

_Then her mother's face appeared, she looked just like Kaori except that she had brown eyes insread of red. "So Sorry...my poor baby." She muttered. She was handing Kaori something; a book. Kaori reached for the book, forgetting about her father. She almost had her fingers on the worn leather but when she touched it she felt like she'd been burned. Her mother shook her head and wept quietly._

_Then she disappeared._

_The book? It now floated in the air. Kaori noticed that it was familiar. But she had the sudden urge to read it. Kaori reached for it, but it flew out of her grip._

_Kaori felt as if she was being watched, she turned and spotted three of the demon-birds that had attacked her earlier. They were starring at her with their three piercing red eyes. All three started to fly around her in circles._

_Kaori narrowed her eyes and reached for her side. Her katana was not there. Kaori let out a gasp and searched for one of her knives. Everything was gone and she was defenseless. _

_Suddenly the man she saw earlier appeared. The one with the red eyes and black hair. An amused smile played on his lips . He started at her hauntingly; almost mocking..._

**-:- -:- -:-**

"Inuyasha, look!" Kagome cried.

"What is it, Kagome?" Shippo asked.

Sango slipped off Kirara, who then turned back into her smaller form.

"There's someone over there...she looks like she's sleeping."

Inuyasha shrugged, "So leave her in peace."

At Kagome's gasp Inuyasha ran towards her.

"She's covered in dirt and she has bruises all over her!" Kagome said. "We should help her."

Inuyasha rolled his eye, "We can't help everyone, Kagome."

"He's right," Sango said. She looked down at the figure. She couldn't see much because her face was hidden in the shadows.

"She's pretty." Miroku said strolling up.

Sango and Kagome rolled their eyes.

"What are we going to do with her?" Shippo asked.

**-:- -:- -:-**

Kaori twitched in her sleep.

"What are we going to do with her?" The voice of a child asked from in front of her.

Kaori, didn't open her eyes. She pretended to sleep.

"We'll help her of course!" A soft feminine voice said.

"I already told you, we can't help everyone." A male voice said.

Kaori felt a familiar presence near her. It was a soft small bundle of heat.

"Kirara!" The feminine voice said. "See Inuyasha? Kirara liked her."

Kirara? This was Kirara? Kaori felt her hand twitch but struggled to stay still.

"I say we help her." Another males voice said.

"Of course you do." A female voice replied.

Kaori's eyes sprang open. She recognized that voice.

"Your awake," A female she didn't recognize said.

"Sango!" Kaori's voice was raspy because it was dry. Kaori launched herself at Sango, who stiffened.

Sango back up to look at her then realization came across her face. She hugged her cousin. She was the only family she had left. She no longer counted Kohaku, he was under Naraku's mind control.

"I thought you were dead." The two slayers said at the same time, then embraced again.

Inuyasha scratched his head, "This is weird."

Sango hugged her cousin tight and Kaori winced.

"Hi I'm Kagome." A girl about her age walked up to Kaori. She had warm inviting brown eyes and black hair. "Are you injured? I can help."

"Okay, someone needs to explain some things." Inuyasha said.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded. "Don't you have manners?"

He scoffed.

"Inuyasha is right," Miroku said.

"We can discuss this when Kaori is cleaned up." Sango said firmly. "She is tired and hurt."

Kagome took a first aid kit out of a huge yellow bag, "We need to remove your top so I can bandage the wound."

Kaori didn't have enough energy to object.

"Can I help?" Miroku asked.

Kaori did have enough energy to slap the perv though, whoever the hell he is.

"Guess not.." Miroku said. He walked away hesitantly.

Shippo and Inuyasha left for Sango and Kagome to take care of Kaori.

"What happened to you?" Sango asked as she dampened a cloth and placed it on the deep gashes on Kaori's back and side.

Kaori's eyes were sad, "It's a long story. I'll tell you when I speak with the others. Well Sango, I found you. Is Kohaku with you?" Kaori couldn't help but be hopeful.

Sango's face hardened and she dropped the cloth she was holding. "No. He is not with me."

Kaori's eyes went to the ground, she muttered a soft "Oh."

Kagome helped Sango clean Kaori's wounds. They bandaged them up tightly.

"Here." Kagome held out some strange material. "I brought some extra clothes, you can use them."

It was then that Kaori noticed Kagome's strange attire. She opened her mouth to question but decided to wait.

"Thank you Kagome." Kaori said. She dressed in a pair of 'jeans' and a t-shirt .

"I'm glad to help." Kagome turned and started rummaging through her bag. She pulled out a piece of fruit and thrust it at Kaori.

Kaori took it with a small smile and ate it.

"Come on," Sango pulled on Kaori's arm. "Everyone has stories to tell."

Kaori nodded; it was true. She bent over and scooped up Kirara into her arms. Kaori heard a whistle from behind and didn't need to turn around to know that it was the monk.

She sat around the fire, while some type of soup was being passed around. Kaori never imagined being here with them.

"Have some." Sango placed the food into her arms.

"No-I'm fine." Kaori said, though she was not. "I do not want to take any of you guy's food."

Inuyasha nodded, "Good call."

"It's fine." Kagome interjected. "We have enough."

Kaori nodded slowly. "Kagome, you are not from this time." She observed.

"No," Kagome shook her head. "I suppose I should tell you the story."

Inuyasha looked like he would object but Kagome silenced him. Kagome told Kaori her story along with Inuyasha's and Kikyo's.

"You are her reincarnation." Kaori said. "But you seem to be much more powerful. Smarter too."

"So, how do you know our Sango?" Shippo asked.

"She is my cousin." Kaori responded. Everyone grew silent and she knew that she needed to tell them what they wanted to know.

"We came from the same village of slayers. Her father is my uncle. We trained together. We're equal in strength."

"Ha!" Sango said. "You admitted it!"

"Shut up," Kaori mumbled. "While most of the slayers were sent away on the mission-" Kaori's eyes became dark and angry at the mention of the 'mission' "I was to stay and protect the village."

"How did you live?" Shippo bounced.

Kaori bowed her head, "I ran."

Sango let out a low gasp, Kaori would never do that. The Kaori she knew would've stood up and fought.

"I was being a coward and I ran." Kaori stated in a tone that meant that the subject wouldn't be brought up for discussion. She had excepted the truth already; she'd left her village to die-even if she couldn't do much to save them.

"I roamed through some forests for a couple days, I was actually looking for the place all the slayers were sent. Then one day while sleeping I was kidnapped." Kaori told them. "There were two demons-both looking for a shard of the jewel. They though I had it because I left the village. I got out safely amd slept." Kaori said she'd left out a couple of unnecessary details.

"The next day I went to look for you slayers. I had finally found the place and saw...the slayers.."

"Wait. You found the place? Do you remember where it was?" Inuyasha leaned forward.

Kaori shook her head slowly, "No, sorry I don't."

"Please continue, Kaori." Shippo said.

"Oh, right. So I saw their-" Kaori took a deep breath and continued again. "Their bodies, I turned and saw a man starring at me from the manor."

"Really? Black hair, red eyes, kinda tall?" Sango said, her voice like ice. Kaori nodded.

"Nuraku." Miroku hissed.

Kaori looked confused but continued. "Anyway I left and tried to fall asleep. Then a demon attacked me, it somehow knew that I was weak and it knew where I had been injured. I managed to kill it before I passed out. Then you guys found me." Kaori left out the part about her strange dream.

"Who's this Nuraku?"

"He's the one who sent demons to slaughter our village and killed the slayers."

"You mean he was standing right in front of me when I was at the manor?" Kaori's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I doesn't matter. You were in no condition to fight, you would've been killed." Miroku said.

Kaori narrowed her eyes at him.

"No that I'm saying you can't fight-because you can- even though I haven't seen you fight...but I'm sure you're quite able!"

"I think Kaori should join our group!" Shippo said. "We all want revenge against Naraku."

"If it wouldn't be too much, I would like to join." Kaori stated quietly. She didn't want to go off alone again, and she didn't want to leave her only family again either.

The others nodded. Kaori could stay.

Kaori looked around the small camp they had made. There was a small tent by the trees and a small fire. There were a few pots surrounding it and matches. Kaori assumed that Kagome supplied them with these things.

Kaori petted Kirara as Sango told the story of her brother, Kohaku.

"Nuraku is a dead man." Kaori said. She cursed Naraku again for doing that to her younger cousin.

"You're really freaky when you do that." Inuyasha observed.

"Do what?"

"Go all 'dangerous' your eyes narrow. It's weird you go from warm and nice to scary and dangerous in a split second."

"It's true," Shippo said.

"Hm," Sango said "I've never noticed it."

"It's funny, 'cause you do it too. Kaori is just a bit scarier." Inuyasha said.

Kaori glanced around and noticed the bow and arrow. "Who's is that?"

Everyone looked at the direction she was looking in. "Kagome's"

"Oh, you know archery?" Kaori picked up the bow and ran her finger along it.

"A little," Kagome said sheepishly. "Not much."

"I can help." Kaori volunteered. "I've learned a little. I'll teach you what I know." Kaori wanted to help. These people excepted her easily without so much of a doubt. They helped her when they could have left her to die. The least she could do was help out a little.

Kagome's eyes lite up, "That would be great!" She went to pick up the arrows, "Can we start now?"

"Kaori is healing now, Kagome. Let her rest." Miroku said. Well, Kaori thought. The monk might be a perv but he was pretty wise.

"Oh," Kagome smiled sheepishly. "Later then!"

"I was wondering.." Sango spoke up. "If we could go to our village. If you all don't mind.."

Kaori nodded, she'd like to visit it. It would bring back memories and sadness but she knew she needed to go.

"I wouldn't mind." Kagome said quietly.

"Me neither," Miroku said quietly.

"Feh," Inuyasha said. "Whatever."

Shippo nodded, he usually just went along with whatever Kagome said.

Kaori yawned, everyone else was retreating inside the tent that looked rather small from the outside. But she assumed it was bigger than it appeared.

Kaori scrambled towards a tree and climbed it, she sat on a low branch and stared up at the dark sky. She stared at the bright moon and wondered if her parents were watching her. A gentle breeze blew and she might have imagined a gentle tap on her shoulder. She exhaled, she felt better than she did yesterday. She's found her cousin one of the only people living from the village. She's also found people who excepted her and would help her bring down Nuraku. No, she was not whole nor at peace with the situation. But she was almost there, because she now had the help of friends.

"Hey, Kaori." Kagome stuck her head out the tent. "There's room inside the tent if you would like to come in."

Kaori smiled and jumped from her place from the tree, "Thank you."

With that, Kaori slept between her cousin and new friend.

_Thanks for reading._

_Constructive criticism and flames are welcome._

_Reviews are love._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello(:**

***~Please note that my story takes place around the early episodes (kinda? I haven't watch the show in a while) Like just around when Sango joined their group. Around that time Kagome wasn't as good with a bow and arrow and such. Everything after the point of where Sango joined is basically made up by me(:**

**Warning****:The main character is my OC, so if you don't like my made up characters then don't read. And I usually don't say the pairings but if you're a fan of Sango/Miroku(and hate any other pairings concerning the two that isn't that) this probably isn't the story for you.**

**Disclaimer****: I obviously do not own Inuyasha.**

_L e f t I n T h e D a r k_

3

"You're up early," Sango said. She stretched as she looked over at her sweaty cousin standing in front of a tree.

Kaori shrugged, "I've been training a little." It was true, she'd been up for about an hour. She was still sore and bandaged but she didn't want that to limit her too much.

"Aren't you still hurt?" Sango asked, she sat cross legged beside Kaori.

"Yes, I'm still a little sore." Kaori grimaced when she lifted her arm back to flick a knife towards a large tree she had targeted. Her back burned from the movement but she ignored it.

"Hm," Sango didn't believe her. "Be careful not to reopen the wound."

"Okay okay _mom."_ Realizing what Kaori had said she glanced towards the ground. Instead of thinking about it she just grabbed another knife and thrust it at the tree.

"My aim is off." Kaori's eyes narrowed. She grabbed another knife and turned it over. She angled her body left and threw it.

"Damn, how many knives do you have?" Inuyasha appeared behind the two slayers.

Kaori shrugged, "I don't know... a lot? I also have several shuriken stars." Kaori pulled out the weapon that looked like a star, it had six points; all sharp and deadly.

Kaori held the weapon and curled her wrist slightly, she let the light silver star fly into air with a flick of the wrist. It struck the tree in the middle. "That's better," She grinned approvingly.

"Why are you abusing the tree..?" Inuyasha asked.

"Well there's not many things to use to train with nowadays, but hey if you would like to volunteer that would be great." Kaori grinned at him while waving a knife in the air.

"Oh no thanks, I'd rather not." Inuyasha said while climbing a tree and sitting on a low branch. "Do you know how to use a kusarigama too?"

"A little," Kaori said thinking of the long weapon. The sharp blade was slightly curved and the chain made it hard to control. It was the weapon Kohaku had used. "I didn't master it like I mastered using my katana and knives but I know how to use enough so that I'd hit my target."

"What weapon _can't_ you use.?" Inuyasha asked.

Kaori shared a look with Sango. "A giant boomerang. Oh and nun chucks."

Miroku soon joined them with a yawn, he sat in the grass next to Sango with drooping eye lids.

"Haha! Have you tried them?"

"Yea...The boomerang never came back and I always hit myself with the nun chucks." Kaori didn't find it embarrassing to talk about it. It was quite laughable. Kaori nudged Sango, "I was so jealous when you could use it but I couldn't!"

Kaori reached down and pulled out a dagger. It was her favorite, given to her my her father. The metal blade was curved beautifully and shiny. The handle was carved elegantly and tinted blue. Kaori threw it at the tree fiercely and when it stuck the tree shook.

"Why are you attacking that poor tree?" Miroku asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Dude, that's what I asked!"

"Would one of you like to take the trees place? That still can be arranged."

The two shut up immediately.

Kaori strolled over to the tree she was 'abusing' and plucked out one of her knives. She made a 'tsk' sound and frowned. "These babies need sharpening."

Inuyasha snorted, "They look sharp enough to me."

Kaori rolled her eyes, "Yes but what do _you_ know?"

Inuyasha just glared at her.

Kagome and Shippo finally came out of the tent. "Good morning everyone."

"Hey," Sango said standing up and walking towards her, "Do you have any fruit in that giant yellow bag of yours?"

Kagome rummaged through it, "No, we'll have to go looking for some. I spotted an apple tree not to far from here."

"I'll help get them," Kaori volunteered.

Kagome nodded her thanks.

"We should be heading towards your village today," Inuyasha said. "We'll pack up while you look for fruit."

Kaori nodded and continued pulling her knives from the bark of the tree.

"Hey Kagome, grab your bow." Kaori said placing her weapons in place. "We might as well get some practicing in."

Kagome grinned and grabbed her bow ad arrows.

Sango scooped up Kirara and they were on their way.

"How are you feelin' Kaori?" Kagome asked.

"I'm okay, better now." Kaori said.

The three girls walked in a comfortable silence, until they came across an apple tree.

"Hm nice," Sango said. "The ones at the top are always the best though." Sango would know, she and Kaori always climbed apple trees back at the village.

Kaori reached for a low branch and pulled her self up. Kaori continued this until she got to the top, she winced at the slight pain in her back but again, she ignored it.

Kaori threw a couple apples down at Sango and Kagome.

They caught a couple and Kagome put them in the yellow book-bag.

Kaori jumped down from the tree, "Is that enough?"

"Yep," Kagome said.

Kaori nodded and picked up Kagome's bow and an arrow. Kagome gripped the handle and rested the arrow on the string. She spotted her target and pulled the arrow back. She let go and watched the arrow soar through the air and strike the red apple hanging lowly on a branch. Perfect.

"Here, you try." Kaori handed Kagome her bow and arrow. She pointed to another apple on a low branch. "Try and hit that."

Kaori watched Kagome ready herself and put herself into the correct position.

"Here," Sango spoke up. "Move your elbow like this," Sango demonstrated. "And hold your bow steady or else the arrow might not have a straight shot."

"Okay," Kagome muttered.

"Hm," Kaori looked at Kagome's position. "Angle your body like this." She turned her body sideways, "and spread your feet like this." Kaori moved her feet shoulder length apart.

Kagome did as she was instructed, "I'm not _that_ clueless ya know."

Kaori chuckled, "Just shoot the arrow and we'll see."

Kagome nodded and released the arrow. It grazed a good part of the apple but it didn't strike it like Kaori's.

"Good," Sango encouraged.

Kaori nodded and pointed to another apple, "Do that one, and relax your shoulders. You're too tense."

Kagome nodded and tried to relax. She repeated what she did minutes ago; only this time she'd hit her target, knocking the apple off the tree.

Kaori grinned "Perfect! You're a fast learner." Kaori smiled at her, "We can do more tomorrow if you like."

Kagome nodded and grabbed the bow. The three girls made their way to camp. When the clearing was in sight Inuyasha jumped down from a tree. "It's about time."

"We thought we were going to have to come after you girls," Miroku stated.

Sango and Kaori scoffed.

"So, did you get any practice Kagome?" Shippo asked.

Kagome nodded and grinned, "I did pretty good."

"We should start moving out now," Inuyasha said. "The stuff's packed, are we riding on Kirara?"

Sango nodded, "Just for a while; then she'll get tired." Sango patted Kirara's head.

Kirara turned into her larger form. First Miroku and Sango climbed on, then Kaori.

Kagome was being carried on Inuyasha's back with Shippo on her shoulder.

"Hm," Kaori observed. "We should be able to go on Kirara for a couple hours then we should walk."

Everyone agreed.

The first hour of the ride was pretty silent. Kaori was bored to but it simply. She took out one of the knives and her sharpening rock. She brought the blade across the rock and it made a screeching sound.

Sango winced and shook her head at her. The noise had startled Miroku awake. (How you could possibly sleep on a moving thing, she didn't know.) She snickered quietly at his confused expression.

Kaori smirked as she ran the blade across the rock again. Miroku's head whipped around to stare at her, then a look of comprehension cross his face and he uttered a low "Oh."

"Do you always pull out your knives when you're bored?" Miroku asked wincing when Kaori dragged the blade across the rock again.

"Mmm, most of the time." Kaori said with a small smile. "Don't worry you'll get used to the sound...I have several small knives and daggers."

Miroku groaned, "Why do you carry so many?"

Kaori shrugged, "I dunno, I just like them. They're easy to use and carry around."

"I still prefer my boomerang over your silly knives." Sango said.

Kaori scoffed she glanced at the giant weapon attached to Sango's back, "That thing is huge! Besides I use my katana over my knives anyway."

Kaori continued to sharpen her knives and Miroku continued to wince and complain.

"Stop complaining. Here," Kaori handed Miroku a knife and a sharpening rock. "Why don't you help?"

Miroku grumbled a little, "Fine."

After a couple more hours Kaori and Miroku had sharpened all of her knives and Kirara was starting to slow down.

Sango told Kirara to stop in an clearing in the forest. "We should walk the rest of the way," She told them.

The three of them got off Kirara and went to stand my Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo.

"Come on," Kagome said, "We better get moving."

Kirara went to her smaller form ad everyone began to walk.

"We shouldn't be too far," Sango said. "Without complications we should be there soon."

"Looks like they'll be some complications," Shippo said glancing at the sky. "That doesn't look so good."

It had gotten dark and the clouds were rolling in. The wind was blowing stronger than earlier, making it cold and slightly hard to see.

Inuyasha just looked agitated that they weren't at their destination yet, but his opinion didn't matter much. He was the impatient type.

Miroku smirked, "I bet we can find someplace to stay."

Kaori followed them towards a village where they would stay, they were about a mile away and the weather was worsening. Kaori pulled her cloak around her tighter. The wind was blowing hard, it was making her hair blow into her face.

Kaori continued to walk, then she suddenly felt her self falling. Someone reached out to catch her before she hit the cold Earth.

"Eh, thanks." Kaori said breathlessly while cursing herself for not paying attention.

"No problem, I always catch the ladies when they fall." Miroku said.

"How cheesy can you get?" Shippo said. Inuyasha just slapped his forehead and shook his head at the monks antics.

Kaori groaned, "Do you know that you could be dead right now? It would take less than two seconds for me to pull out a knife and stab you. Remove. Your. Hands."

Miroku smiled sheepishly, "Heh heh...I'm not apologizing."

Kaori started to turn red and Miroku backed away slowly.

"See Kagome, I told you this was how he would die." Inuyasha explained while Kagome sighed exasperatedly. "Women. Women will kill him. And man, I hope it's that one. That'd be a show."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Wait, where'd Miroku go?"

"Oh, he just started running for his life." Sango stated dryly. No one noticed her sour expression.

"So...Kaori's gone too?" Shippo said. The slayer was nowhere in sight. This would not be a good day for Miroku.

The group began to look for them and found Kaori practically drowning Miroku in a nearby stream.

"AH!" Miroku yelled. Kaori grabbed his hair and pushed him face first into the water.

"Are you going to apologize now?" Kaori said through clenched teeth.

Kaori lifted his head enough to let him breath and speak "Err...No."

She repeated the process.

Miroku let out a strangled growl, "Hm, you're feisty. I like them feisty."

Kaori stopped trying to drown him, screw that. She started to pound her fist into every part of his body that she could reach.

After watching the show with an amused face, Inuyasha finally decided to break it up. "Hey, no killing Miroku. We need him."

Kaori snorted, "For what?"

"For getting us a place to stay, that's what."

Kaori stopped beating him and rose gracefully. "Fine." She glared at Miroku. "Just don't touch me."

The group got to the village just before it started to rain.

Miroku led them to a rather large manor and knocked on the door.

"Yes?" And elderly man asked opening the large door. He looked over the group suspiciously.

"Hello, I am Miroku, I am a monk."

"What business have you here?" The man asked, eyes narrowing. Kaori sensed something off about him but didn't quite know what.

"My assistants and I were just passing through, but I noticed a dark energy above this fine manor." Miroku said.

The man jerked his head, "Dark energy huh? No-We, I don't need your help."

"But sir-"

"Goodbye." The man shut the door ad Miroku looked bit shocked and confused.

Kaori frowned, something odd was going on.

Inuyasha frowned, "What's up his ass?"

"Come on," Shippo tugged on Inuyasha's pants. "It'll start pouring soon."

Miroku repeated the same lie to another man, at another manner. The group was excepted in hastily.

"Are you hungry?" The owner of the manor asked.

Miroku nodded "Yes, the journey was long."

"I'll have a meal prepared for you and your friends quickly." He scurried off.

"Miroku," He looked surprised that Kaori was actually addressing him. "Did you really sense dark energy around the other manor?"

Miroku nodded, "Yes actually I did."

Kaori nodded, she knew something was off about that place. She stared out into the dark of the night; She's have to be on her guard while they were here. She scanned the grounds the manor was on and fallowed the gang to a room.

"Food!" Shippo jumped of Sango's shoulder and onto the floor. He quickly began to eat.

Inuyasha followed Shippo's example with Miroku in tow. Kaori sat down and helped herself to small amounts of food. Strangely, she wasn't very hungry. Kaori picked at her rice. Since everyone was eating it was mostly silent. Kaori found it awkward.

"Hey," Miroku said point to a piece of pork on her plate. "Do you want that?"

Kaori glared at him.

"Oooooh-kay," He muttered.

"Can I have it..?" Inuyasha asked. Amazing how everything that had been on the table was gone and they were still hungry.

"Here." Kaori pushed it at him.

Miroku scowled, "No fair, I asked first!"

"So?"

After about an hour more of everyone jut sitting around talking they decided to hit the hay.

Sango, Kaori and Kagome went to their designated room.

Kagome yawned, "Long day."

"Yeah," Kaori agreed rubbing her eyes. She removed her cloak, knives and katana, but she kept them close; as always.

"Tomorrow will be even longer," Sango replied. "Oh!" She jumped. "Kaori, let Kagome and I check your wounds."

Kaori groaned but allowed them to check her back, side, and leg. They cleaned and re-bandaged the wounds.

"You're healing well, don't screw it up and do something stupid." Sango said.

"Glad you have so much faith in me," Kaori replied, slipping into bed.

Sango simply rolled her eyes, "Goodnight."

They each said goodnight ad drifted off to sleep.

Later that night Kaori woke to the sound of a crash and a yell.

**-:- -:- -:-**

"I think you should have let the monk in," said Atsuko. She stared at her daughter Asura's lifeless form. Her usually warm brown eyes were blank and distant; they stared unblinkingly at the ceiling.

"No!" Kyou said, he was the father of this girl and the owner of the first manor the gang had visited first. "They will harm her, and the villagers can't find out or much worse will happen to her."

Kyou's eyes filled with sadness when he glanced at his daughter, they didn't even know what was wrong. He place a hand on her forehead, her skin had gotten pale and cold.

A hiss sounded through the room. Kyou and Atsuko jerked their heads to the direction the sound was coming from; Asura.

Asura began to float midair, brown hair swishing behind her. Her eyes began to glow and she muttered two words in a low voice, "It's near."

"Asura?" Kyou said. "What is wrong?"

"I must find it." Asura said.

"No no, honey. You must stay here, you are not well."

"I must find it," Asura repeated. She began to float towards the door; a greenish light began to surround her.

"You can't leave," Kyou said. But he was obviously frightened for his daughter.

"It is near, I will have it" Asura placed a pale hand on her father's shoulder and jerked him away with a blast of green energy. He yelped and crashed into some vases behind him.

"I must find it." Asura said she glided into the night, her eyes glowing green yet lifeless and her hair floating creepily around her.

**~Next time****:**

"_**She **_**has to die as-well. Then everything will be over."**

"**Oh-I'm distracting am I?"**

"**Hm, I don't even want the jewel."**

"**Hey, you can't go to sleep right now...later later!"**

_Thanks for reading._

_Constructive criticism and flames are welcome._

_Reviews are love._


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello loves:**

**I'd like to thank those who review, added this story to their favorites, and subscribed. Thank you so much, it means a lot.**

**Warning****:The main character is my OC, so if you don't like my made up characters then don't read. And I usually don't say the pairings but if you're a fan of Sango/Miroku(and hate any other pairings concerning the two that isn't that) this probably isn't the story for you.**

**Disclaimer****: I obviously do not own Inuyasha.**

_L e f t I n T h e D a r k_

4

_Recap:__Later that night Kaori woke to the sound of a crash and a yell..._

"_I must find it." Asura said she glided into the night, her eyes glowing green yet lifeless and her hair floating creepily around her._

Kaori quickly shot out of bed and slipped on her cloak, she put her knives in place and grabbed her katana.

Kaori slipped out the room and blended into the shadows. Oddly enough there were people roaming around the manor frantically. It was weird for so many people to be doing this at this time of night. Some were rushing out and others were gathering things. Kaori heard snippets of conversation like "Kyou injured.." and "His daughter did it." Kaori frowned when someone asked where the girl was was; no one knew.

Kaori soon found out that the owner of the manor's wife was a witch doctor and was going to help heal Kyou, she was taking along guards to protect her. The villagers were actively searching for Kyou's daughter.

"Eavesdropping, Kaori?" Inuyasha said from behind her.

"Hm, yes. I thought that was obvious." Kaori replied turning her dark eyes on the two boys standing in front of her. "To you two anyway."

The three walked further into the shadows and spoke quietly so that the passing villagers wouldn't hear.

"Did you hear the noise?" Miroku asked.

"Yes and I also have gathered bits of information about what's going on." Kaori said,

"I'd be surprised if you hadn't." Inuyasha added.

Kaori glared at him and continued. "Kyou the owner of the other manor was injured by his daughter. There are claims that her eyes were glowing and her hair was floating in the air, as was she. They can not find her; they are looking."

"Do you know the girls name?" Miroku asked curiously.

"Um, I heard some people mumbling 'Asura.' I'm sure that's it."

"I'm assuming you have you knives with you," Miroku said.

Kaori shot him a look.

"Right. Of course you do." Miroku answered his own question.

Kaori frowned, "I think...we should look for Asura."

Inuyasha shook his head, "Why? We can't solve everyone's problems!"

Kaori looked at him and shrugged, "Nobody asked you to help. But she's dangerous and nobody should be hurt."

"She's right," Miroku agreed.

Kaori ignored him, "Besides I wasn't going to ask you to tag along anyway. I knew that you'd want to protect Kagome- oh and tell Sango what's happening if she's awake."

Inuyasha couldn't argue with that; she was right. He gave them both a look that said something he wouldn't say out loud; _Be careful. _Kaori nodded to him and walked towards the center of the village. Miroku followed.

Kaori made sure that she had a good grip on her katana under her cloak before continuing. She walked towards the edge of the forest and continued to search.

"Nice night, eh?" Miroku said, trying and failing to make a conversation.

"Mmhmm," Kaori mumbled.

"There's a full moon out tonight," Miroku continued glancing up.

"I noticed," Kaori replied she looked up at the glowing moon. She suddenly had the urge to climb a tree to look at it better. Kaori had always been taught to follow her instinct so she climbed the nearest tree.

"What are you doing?" Miroku asked. He looked frustrated with her, Kaori mentally snorted; like he had the right.

Kaori shook her head, "Hold on." She reached for the next branch and pulled herself up. Once she got to the top she stared at the moon, it was beautiful, large, and bright. A greenish glow to her left distracted her. It was close to the ground and slowly advancing in the direction of the manor they were staying at.

Kaori jumped from the tree and landed next to Miroku who jumped from surprise.

"I know where Asura is," Kaori told him.

"Oh," Miroku said. "That explains why you climbed the tree to see if you could see her light and find her path, right?"

"Er yea." Kaori wasn't going to tell Miroku that the only reason she climbed the tree was to look at the moon. It was funny that she had got distracted by the moon. But instinct told her to climb the tree and she did.

Kaori ran towards the dark figure ahead. It tensed and turned still floating midair. It was a girl, Asura. She was pretty and tall with pale skin that seemed to glow in the moonlight. Her eyes were brown and empty they also had a strange greenish glow to them. Her hands were surrounded by and strange green energy and the nails on her slender fingers were sharp; like knives.

Asura hissed; it was a strange inhumane sound that made the hairs on the back off Kaori's neck stand up.

"Why did you attack your father?" Miroku asked cautiously, he was alert and on guard.

"He got in my way." the voice of the girl was low it gave the two a strange edgy feeling "Nobody can get in the way."

"Get in the way of what?" Kaori asked bluntly.

"What I'm looking for." She replied. "It's near; I know where it is. _She_ has it."

"Oh." Kaori frowned then her heart pounded when she figured out what she meant. Asura wanted the _jewel,_ she was after Kagome.

"_She _has to die as-well. Then everything will be over." Asura continued. Kaori gripped the katana and glanced at Miroku. He understood everything and connected the dots just as she had.

Kaori looked at him, "I'll stay here, and you go talk to Inuyasha." She said slowly. She hoped that he would warn them; or that she would manage to kill Asura, whatever she was.

Miroku frowned, "I will not leave you here alone to fight..." He began to tug the beads around his right hand.

"Stop." Kaori said, she grabbed his left had and pulled it away from the beads. "Shippo told me about the wind-tunnel and how you can't use it until you're healed. Don't be stupid." Kaori said. Then she thought of earlier when Sango had told her not to do anything stupid. That idea had been thrown out the window. Maybe Kaori was some-what of a hypocrite.

"Aw, you care." Miroku smiled. Kaori rolled her eyes, leave it to Miroku to tease someone at a time like this.

Kaori focused her gaze on Asura, she grabbed her katana and jumped up, she swung it in a downward slash narrowly missing Asura's arm.

"But," Kaori said keeping her eyes on Asura, "You need to warn them."

"I will not leave you here alone," Miroku said "Either we both stay and fight or we both leave."

Why did he have to be so _difficult_?

Kaori considered this. Their strength lied in numbers, she knew that. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a blast of green energy come at her; she was so surprised she couldn't move. Miroku shoved into her; knocking her out the way.

"See, you need me." He grinned. "Ha, you see why I can't leave you here alone."

Kaori narrowed her eyes, "You distracted me. I would be fine if you were _gone._" Kaori climbed a tree. Her wounds were still not completely healed and that limited her. Pain arched up her back with each move.

"Oh-I'm distracting am I?" Miroku said.

Kaori scowled, she decided that after they were done with Asura he would die next.

"I'm wasting my time. I have found what I am looking for." Asura said she began to float towards the village.

Kaori frowned, they would have to get ahead of Asura. They'd have to get there fast. Kaori could move pretty fast; not as fast as Inuyasha and Miroku though. She couldn't move as fast as before either; her wounds would limit her. That angered her more than anything. Her own body; limiting her.

"We'll have to get there fast. Get on my back," Miroku said.

"What? I am _not-"_ Kaori started with a frown.

"Well we need to get there fast, don't we? Unless you have a better idea." Miroku said.

Kaori found truth in his words and hesitantly climbed on. Miroku was definitely faster than her, and he didn't even seemed to slow down with her added weight. She'd seen Miroku run before and he could keep up with the speed of Kagome's bike without a problem. Before he started running Kaori punched him hard in the back. "Don't get any ideas or you _will_ die tonight."

Miroku grumbled and started running towards the village. They were there in three minutes. Kaori jumped off his back and ran towards Sango and Kagome's room.

When Miroku and Kaori entered Sango stood immediately noting their alarmed expressions. "What happened?"

"Asura is looking for the jewel." Kaori said. "And she seems to be pretty powerful."

Inuyasha stood and grabbed the Tessaiga, Kagome grabbed her bow and arrow and grinned confidently.

"That's the weird part," Sango said. "Isn't she human?"

Kaori nodded and frowned. Asura _was_ human.

Inuyasha snorted, "That doesn't matter, she's after Kagome."

"I think she's possessed." Miroku said "In order to stop her without harming her we have to find the object that possessed her and destroy it."

"But who would possess her?" Kagome asked standing.

"A demon," Sango said.

Kaori nodded, "A demon who's too weak to get it themselves. It resulted to possession."

Inuyasha scowled, "How does that explain her weird glow?"

"The demon must have put a lot of it's demon energy in it," Miroku said.

Kaori frowned, "Wouldn't Asura be protecting the item that possessed her?"

"Yes," Sango said with a nod. Her brows scrunched together in concentration.

"Okay here's the deal." Inuyasha said "I'm gonna protect Kag-er...the jewel with Miroku. Kaori and Sango will get whatever is possessing her."

"Okay, Sango and I will meet Asura half-way there and try and stop her." Kaori said nodding to her cousin who grinned. "You guys should just stay here."

Kaori made sure that she had all of her knives in place and grabbed the katana. Sango had her hiraikotsu strapped to her back and her katana in hand. The both ran towards Asura who was about a yard away.

"There." Sango whispered to Kaori. "The green necklace around her neck. It looks like it's glowing. You think that could be it?"

"Yep. You sneak behind her; I'll distract her," Kaori said pulling a long sharp knife from her cloak.

Sango nodded and with a smile she climbed up a tree. Kaori watched her maneuver through several branches and limbs. She was finally right above Asura waiting for the right opportunity to drop.

Kaori winked at her. She threw her first knife at Asura. It pinned her loose hanging sleeve to a tree. Exactly why Kaori hated draping sleeves. They were more likely to get stuck in things. Or pinned to trees...

Asura turned towards her with angry eyes, Kaori flicked her knife towards the other sleeve. It flew fast and pinned the sleeve to the tree. Asura shrieked from anger "You again!"

Kaori smirked and drew her katana. Asura tensed; ready for the attack. Her job was complete. Kaori had successfully distracted her.

Sango gracefully dropped from the tree and held her katana to Asura's neck. "I'll be taking this." She said lightly. She took her necklace from Asura's neck and threw it a Kaori.

Kaori put the stone on the ground and took out her sharpest dagger, hoping to break it she stabbed the stone. It split into several tiny pieces. Kaori knew she'd destroyed it when it lost it's glow.

Asura finally slumped forward, her hands stopped glowing her her head hanging. "Poor girl." Sango whispered. Kaori nodded and slowly withdrew her knives from her sleeves.

"Damn," A deep voice came from behind them. "I swear I thought I'd made her strong enough. Guess I'll have to take care of you myself." A man appeared from the shadows. He was tall with sky blue eyes and hair as white as snow. He was pretty, Kaori thought. The pretty ones were dangerous.

"You know, there was no need to possess but I think I was being a bit lazy, and, ah, entertainment reasons. Possessions are always amusing." He said. Great so he was a talker and one who enjoyed others' pain. How nice...

Kaori narrowed her eyes and shifted. Her hand lingered on the hilt of her katana.

"Oh!" The demon looked up. "I forgot to introduce my self, how rude of me. I am Isuma."

Sango raised a slim black eyebrow and got into a fighting position.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourselves? A fine young lady always uses her manner even in such a situation like this." Isuma said, he raised his light blue eyes to meet both girls' gazes.

Kaori snorted, was this guy serious?

"Hm, I don't even want the jewel." Isuma said whilst shrugging and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I really just wanted a good fight, or entertainment. This is such a win-win situation. I don't need the jewel to be strong."

Kaori vaguely wondered when this guy would shut up. She frowned and shifted, tossing a knife from hand to had impaitently.

"Although, it will be a shame to have to spill blood and harm hairs on your pretty little heads." Isuma said.

Kaori scowled, it was time to kill him now. Kaori reached into her cloak and pulled out a shuriken star. A smirk formed on her lips, she'd been wanting to use these for a while. She flicked her wrist and the star went flying. It sliced through Isuma's skin causing blood to fly. Isuma was calm and didn't even move a muscle. Though the wound was deep, Kaori watched it slowly begin to heal.

Kaori grimaced and leaped around him. So he was the fast healing type. Unfortunate. She wondered if he could grow back a whole limb.

Isuma watched lazily, "You two look like you have a pretty good amount of skill there. Too bad I'm so powerful."

Kaori scowled. And he was cocky._ Great, he's an asshole too._ Sango climbed the nearest tree, Kaori could tell that she was forming a plan. Kaori threw three knives at the demon. One went through his shirt and he lost his footing. The knife pierced the bark of a tree behind him. The next knife narrowly missed his head and the last struck his shoulder. His white shirt quickly became stained with blood. Isuma tried to hide his grimace as he removed the knife from his shoulder. He quickly discarded his shirt and stood up straight with narrowed eyes.

"This grows boring," He said, he ran his fingers along the blade of the knife that had pierced his skin. "And I thought you girls would have a little show for me. I'm disappointment." His eyes danced with amusement; he was taunting them. "Though, I'd love to hear your screams of pain. Maybe watch you squirm."

Kaori scoffed, even if she _was_ injured she wouldn't give him the pleasure of hearing her scream, nor would she squirm.

Isuma began to attack with blast of green energy. He threw Kaori's knife back at her and she dodged and narrowed her eyes into slits. How dare he use her own weapon against her!

"What?" He said faking innocence. "I was just returning your knife."

Sango had thrown her boomerang down at him, he looked surprised. He quickly took out his katana and held it against the hiraikotsu that was close to cutting him in half. He looked like he was struggling but he used his odd green energy to force it away. The boomerang lay useless in the grass a few feet away.

Sango cursed and jumped down from the tree, she took out her katana. Kaori followed suite, and they fought. It looked more like a deadly dance. Isuma chose to wrap his green energy around the sword, making everything ten times more dangerous.

As Kaori moved she felt the pain in her back return. Or maybe it was always there, she hadn't realized it but the pain had grown stronger. Suddenly Isuma's katana was coming towards her head, Kaori jumped back and landed on her aching back. She's avoided the deadly sword by rolling violently to the right and was back on her feet without a wince.

Sango chose to attack from behind so Isuma decided to focus all attention on her.

_How do you kill a guy who heals so fast?_ Kaori though.

Then she suddenly had an idea. The more wounds he has the slower he heals. She made eye contact with Sango and she knew they had come to the same conclusion.

Sango and Kaori circled him and began to fight again. Kaori was panting, she was loosing energy. Her hair was sticking to her damp forehead. Kaori threw her knives and they struck him in his turned back. They weren't healing, so he must have other wounds. Kaori thought.

She felt a bit of hope and then Kaori's heart sank into her stomach.

_Sango!_

Sango had fallen over and Isuma was coming at her with his katana. The green energy was surrounding it, ready to strike.

"Sango!" Kaori panicked.

Kaori ran as fast as she could; faster than she ever had. She ran and tried to push Sango away. Red alerts signaled in her head. Her back was to Isuma. She quickly turned, still pushing Sango out the way. Isuma's blade went across Kaori's stomach. Isuma had it raised for another strike.

Sango suddenly ran into Isuma's side. Her face was red and sweaty. She was angry, _really _angry. Kaori didn't know if she'd ever seen her _that_ angry.

Kaori tried to stand but wobbled, her stomach throbbed. She could hear her heart beat thundering in her ears. "Ahh," She winced, when she tried to sit up.

"Stay down, you idiot!" Sango yelled at her. She was fighting fiercely with anger and hatred. Isuma looked hungry and crazed.

Kaori followed her orders and lied in the grass while she bled. She wondered what the wound looked like. When she was struck it felt like she was burning, almost like acid slowly burning away at your skin. She still felt that burning.

Kaori looked up at the sky, _it's getting light out,_ She thought. Her vision began to blur. And she yawned. Sleep...

No! She wanted to watch the fight...and try and help Sango...

Black dots danced in front of her eyes. Her stomach ached again, almost in-sync with her back.

_Maybe, I'll just sleep for a minute..._Kaori gave in.

**-:- -:- -:-**

Sango was _furious_. Not only with the demon, but with her self also. How could she let her guard down? How had she allowed Kaori to get hurt? She glanced at Kaori out of the corner of her eye. She was laying in the grass, her face scrunched up in pain. Kaori was strong. Sango thought. She'll be okay. Sango was sure of that. Kaori _was_ strong. She didn't even scream when injured. In fact, she wasn't even crying. Sango would've done both.

Sango jumped from a branch on the tree and went downward with her katana. She'd successfully cut off his arm. She knew that he wouldn't be healing anytime soon.

Then she got a idea, a brilliant idea. She'd cut off all his limbs. And he'd die. She'd enjoy it. Yes it was sadistic but her cousin was laying in the grass bleeding because of _both_ Isuma and her.

Sango maneuvered her way through the trees above again, Isuma sent a flash of green towards her. It burned her right arm but she continued to move. She wouldn't give up. Kaori never did.

Sango repeated the steps but missed his left and only arm. Isuma was growling. He sent his blast faster and stronger.

Sango had gotten several burns on her arms and legs but ignored them all the same. She did a sweep with her sword, it was clean and it cut off a leg. It was disgusting; his limbs scattered everywhere and Isuma bleeding.

Sango knew she didn't need to take anymore limbs. With one last stab she struck him in the chest. He fell backwards in the grass. In a pool of maroon blood.

Sango collapsed on her knees. She was exhausted. Sango shook her head and climbed over to her cousin. Sango felt warm tears sting her eyes. She raised Kaori's shirt and looked at the wounds. There was a diagonal line across her stomach. It was purple and red. Sango tore a piece of her shirt and applied pressure to the wound.

"I told you not to be stupid." Sango said. "You don't listen to anything, do you?"

Kaori opened an eye lazily she let out a gust of air and muttered "Shuddup Sango.." Her eyes drifted shut again.

Sango panicked, "Hey, you can't go to sleep right now...later later!"

"I'm tired, you ass." Kaori said with closed eyes.

"Hey!" A familiar voice said. Sango recognized it. Inuyasha. He and Miroku ran into the clearing. Kagome was on Inuyasha's back with Shippo.

"You guys were taking too long," Kagome said. "We were worried."

Miroku looked around, "Where's Kaori?" Then they noticed Sango's tear stained face and her leaning over a figure.

"Is that...Kaori?" Inuyasha said.

Sango nodded sadly.

"Wow," Kaori said. She coughed. "You guys are really late." Her eyes were still closed, she really really did want to sleep...

"What happened?" Kagome asked then she glanced at the dead figure on the ground a few feet away. "Who's that?"

"I'll explain later but," Sango lowered her eyes. "Kaori being hurt was my fault."

"Shuddup." Kaori muttered again. "Itwasn'treally." Her words began to slur together.

"Come on, we need to get her back." Kagome said.

Inuyasha picked up a still-unconscious Asura, and Kagome climbed on his back with Shippo on her shoulder.

Sango went to pick up her wounded cousin.

"Stop," Miroku said. "You're wounded as well. I'll carry her."

"You just want to pick her up," Sango said with narrowed eyes. But she didn't have enough energy to object or be angry.

Kaori felt herself be lifted up by strong arms. Her head rested against something broad. A chest.

"Hey," Miroku whispered. "You can't sleep yet."

Kaori opened one eye to looked up at him lazily, "You're carrying me. If you try _anything_ I will not hesitate to beat you until you bleed to death."

Miroku laughed. Kaori was going to be just fine.

**~Next time:**

"**Because, they want to clean and close the wound first. And we're worried you won't wake up."**

**Kagome awoke panting. What a horrible dream. **

"**Where the hell are my knives?"**

"**You're dead, but for what? To live on the earth and face hard times? It's interesting."**

_Thanks for reading._

_Constructive criticism and flames are welcome._

_Reviews are love._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hola! I'm trying to be consitent with updates, which is going pretty well since I have up too chapter 12 typed out. I just get too lazy to edit. O.o**

**Anyway, thanks for reading(:**

**Warning****:The main character is my OC, so if you don't like my made up characters then don't read. And I usually don't say the pairings but if you're a fan of Sango/Miroku(and hate any other pairings concerning the two that isn't that) this probably isn't the story for you.**

**Disclaimer****: I obviously do not own Inuyasha.**

_L e f t I n T h e D a r k_

5

_recap:_

_Kaori opened one eye to looked up at him lazily, "You're carrying me. If you try anything I will not hesitate to beat you until you bleed to death."_

_Miroku laughed. Kaori was going to be just fine_.

Miroku gently set Kaori down on the futon. Kagome and Sango went on a frantic search to find the doctor and Inuyasha went to return Asura to her house. They'd explain everything to the villagers at another time.

"Oh how nice," Kaori's voice was low and raspy. "They leave me here with _you._"

Miroku knew that that was supposed to be an insult, but some how he knew she didn't mean it.

"And me!" Shippo said, popping up beside her.

"Why," Kaori winced and her hand shot out to her stomach. "Won't you guys let me sleep?"

"Because, they want to clean and close the wound first. And we're worried you won't wake up." Miroku answered

Kaori rolled her eyes, "Where's Sango?"

"Ah, she went to get a doctor." Miroku said, he sat on the floor and crossed his legs. "You won't be doing much of anything for a while."

Kaori looked frustrated, "How boring." She blew hair out of her eyes.

"Would you like me to bring you a book?" Miroku cracked a smile. "How about 'The Way of the Sword?'"

Kaori snorted, "Read that."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"I dunno,why aren't you?"

"Interesting question."

"I'm done talking to you." Kaori said abruptly. She was breathing heavily again, Miroku noticed.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm just fine. I just got my stomach sliced open but other than that I'm just peachy." Kaori replied closing her eyes slowly. She didn't open them for about a minute.

"Hey." Kaori gave him a smirk. "You think I'll get a cool scar after this heals?" Kaori pointed to her bloody stomach.

"Er..."

Kaori shrugged, then winced. Everything hurt.

Finally Sango and Kagome appeared, they had an elderly woman behind them.

"Took ya long enough...I wanted to sleep." Kaori said drowsily.

"You have to leave now, boy." The elderly woman said. Miroku nodded and took his leave.

**-:- -:- -:-**

After the doctor had cleaned Kaori's wound and bandaged it up as best as she could, she gave Kaori warm tea with some sort of herb that was supposed the ease the pain.

Kaori drank it slowly and settled back down. Finally, she could sleep. She closed her eyes and felt slightly peaceful.

Kaori remember Miroku's words,'_We're just worried you won't wake up.' _They cared that much? Honestly Kaori never had the sense of belonging. Her family accepted her, her uncle, cousins, siblings and parents of course. One part of the village accepted her, but they were slightly intimidated because she was a great fighter at such a young age. The same went for Sango. The other half was slightly superstitious. They grew uneasy at the site of her determined red eyes and fierce fighting ability.

But she now knew what _belonging_ felt like when she was with the group. It was funny how they had come together out of hatred for one person. She liked that the others cared, no matter how annoying it was.

Kaori slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. But she had another strange dream, this one scarier than the first.

_Kaori was swimming. She touched her stomach and felt that the wound was gone. She grinned and swam around a few times. She looked up at the sun and noticed it shinning brightly above her.  
>Kaori spotted Sango and Kagome in the water and swam towards them. It was then that Kaori realized that they were all in their clothes, shoes socks and all<em>

_She smiled brightly and noticed Inuyasha and Miroku a few feet away. _

_Suddenly there was a ripple below her. She looked down at the dark water and saw a pair of red eyes starring back at her. They were her own...but they weren't. They were savage eyes, hungry for power, and darkness. The darkness was frightening._

_Kaori swam away but something grabbed her ankle and yanked her beneath the water. Kaori let out a strangled gasp. She reached out for help. She clawed at Sango's arm but she moved away, with a shake of her head and a teary eyed frown. Miroku and Kagome reached out their hands to help her._

_The thing yanking her ankle pulled harder. She was pulled under the surface again, quickly loosing oxygen supply. Kaori struggled and broke through the water. She continued to grip Miroku and Kagome. The third time she was yanked down hard and rough. The pull was so strong that she pulled Miroku and Kagome down too._

_Kaori knew she wouldn't survive, but she refused the make her friends go down with her. She let go of Miroku and Kagome's hands and the thing dragged her down into the dark water. Alone in the darkness._

Kagome awoke panting. What a horrible dream.

She was smart, she'd figured out what it meant the second she woke up.

It was about her struggle with the darkness.

What darkness? She didn't know. But she did know that she was ready to fight against it.

**-:- -:- -:-**

Sango sat in silence, giving each of them a few minutes to take it in. She'd just explained the fight between her, Isuma, Asura, and Kaori. She knew something odd was going on when the fight against Asura was easy, _too_ easy. Then Isuma had appeared, in all of his beauty and arrogance.

Kaori, wasn't exactly fighting to her best ability. Because she was in pain that day too. Her back wound wasn't completely healed. Sango frowned, she knew Kaori wasn't well but she had let her fight. Kaori was strong, Sango had never seen her cry or call for help. She was independent, strong, and smart.

Miroku was the first to speak, "I knew we should have gone with you two. We were fools not to."

"This whole thing accident could have been avoided. 'Specially since Kaori was the one who wanted to go after Asura." Inuyasha said, eyes dark resting on each of them.

Sango rounded on him, "Are you saying this is her fault?"

"No, I was just saying that-"

"Look," Kagome spoke up softly from the corner. "Everyone played a part in this. It doesn't even matter. We should all focus on Kaori's well being. We will not be pointing fingers at _anyone_ because it is pointless and won't help the situation."

There was silence. She was correct. They couldn't turn back time, in fact they were _wasting_ it by pointing fingers at each other.

Sango glanced at Kaori's knives that were place in the corner of the room. She'd like switch places with Kaori. After all, it was _her_ fault. No matter how many times Kaori disagreed.

**-:- -:- -:-**

Kaori lifted her head from her pillow. She looked around and sat up. Good. Nobody was in the room with her. She ignored the pain that shot through her body every time she moved as she swung her feet off the bed..

Sango appeared in front of her, "Back to bed." She waved a thin finger in her face.

Kaori groaned she was tired of being stuck in this room in a bed without anything to do. Kaori faked a wince, "Hey Sango can you bring me some food? I'm starving."

Sango nodded smiling, she was happy to help. "What do you want?"

"Some berries." Kaori said the first thing that popped into her mind.

"Okay," Sango said cheerfully, walking out the room.

Most people would enjoy being waited on hand and foot. Not Kaori. She liked to do things herself, not have people doing them _for_ her like she was some lazy bum.

Kaori lifted her self up with a small wince. Now that Sango wasn't here to bother her she walked towards the sliding doors that led outside. She slid the door open slowly, and wrapped an arm around her stomach lightly.

"Going somewhere?" Miroku blocked her path.

"Damn you!" Kaori cursed, she was beginning to get agitated.

"Your emotions are up the wall theses last couple of days," Miroku chuckled.

Kaori began to think that she was going to go insane, she slammed the door and sat on the floor. She searched around the room for her weapons. They were no where in sight.

"Where the hell are my knives?" She yelled.

"Hiding from your anger," Miroku said through the door.

Kaori had the sudden image of her exploding in her mind, literally exploding. Blood and guts flying everywhere. Kaori rested her head in her hands, she _hated_ this. Why couldn't she heal faster?

She wanted to _do _something. Anything! This room was going to drive her crazy. The next person who walks in might find she spinning around in circles just to get some action. That idea didn't seem so bad...

Kaori slowly approached the sliding door and sat beside it. "Hey Miroku."

"Hm?" Came his reply.

"I'm bored, tell me a joke." It wasn't a request it was more like a command. Her tone brought a sarcastic smile to Miroku's face.

"How about a knock knock joke?" Miroku said through the screen. He sat directly behind her. They were basically back to back, the screen dividing them.

"Whatever." Kaori replied.

"Okay. Knock knock?"

Kaori yawned, "Who's there?"

"Banana." Miroku replied.

Kaori raised an eyebrow, "Banana who?"

"Knock knock," Miroku started again.

"Who's there?" Kaori asked, she started to feel silly.

"Banana."

"You already-" Kaori just sighed, "Whatever. Banana who?"

"Knock knock?"

"Who the hell is there already?" Kaori said. Was there ever going to be a punch line to this never-ending joke.

"Banana."

Kaori groaned, here we go again, "Banana who?"

"Knock knock."

Kaori blew her hair out her face, "Who's there?" She said slowly.

"Orange." Miroku answered. Yes! A new fruit.

"Orange who?"

"Orange ya glad I didn't say banana again?" Miroku said, then doubled over in laughter. "Get it? Or-ange. Like Aren't ya? Haha yeah. Orange?" He continued to laugh.

Kaori raised an eyebrow and laughed quietly to herself.

Miroku stopped laughing. "You thought it was funny?"

Kaori snorted, "No, I'm laughing at the stupidity of the joke. Oh and you. The joker's stupidity always helps." Kaori chuckled, "My brother used to tell bad jokes." She looked down at her hands sadly. _Used to._

Miroku noticed the sad mood that had passed over and decided to lighten it. "Want me to tell another joke."

"Er no-"

"How about some critical thinking?"

Kaori shrugged, "Okay."

"So there's a farmer with a boat that can only fit two. He has a fox, a hen, and a bag of grain. How does he get them across the river to the other side without one eating the other?"

Kaori considered this, "He takes the fox across-"

"Nope," Miroku laughed. "While he was taking the fox the hen ate the grain."

"What kind of game-? Okay fine, He takes the bag of grain instead."

The pair looked odd, they _were_ playing a game through a door.

"Haha, the fox ate the hen."

"Damn you stupid hen." Kaori furrowed her eyebrows. "Okay I've got it! He takes the hen across then comes back."

"Yes," Miroku agreed. "Good so far."

"He comes back," Kaori said scratching her head. "And takes the grain."

Miroku nodded then said "Yep."

"He goes and gets the fox-"

"Nope, the hen ate the grain again."

"Shit. Fuckin , take the fox instead. Then...uh take the hen back." Kaori frowned. It made a little bit of sense.

Miroku nodded, "So far so good."

"Wait, what happens if the farmer dies?" Kaori asked.

"What-? Only you could think of that. He won't die..."

"Fine," Kaori huffed. "Okay so he takes the hen back and gets the grain across."

"mmhmm..."

"Then he takes the hen across at last."

"Congratulations, you got everything across without something being eaten."

"You don't sound so excited about it," Kaori commented dryly..

Miroku chuckled, "I was just mimicking you."

Kaori raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Kaori you're supposed to be resting." Sango said coming in with a bowl.

Kaori rolled her eyes and said, "I _am_ resting, I was just talking to good ol' Miroku."

Sango's expression was sour, she opened her mouth to reply but chose not to.

"Why so sour? Jealous?" Kaori raised an eyebrow suggestively. Sango's eyes got wide, Kaori _knew?_ "Don't worry," Kaori said standing. "There's nothing to be jealous of. You're way better company than Miroku." She patted Sango reassuringly with a sarcastic smirk.

_Oh._ Sango exhaled, and grinned at her cousin.

"Well thanks Kaori, you really make me feel special ya know." Miroku said from through the screen.

"It's what I do best." Kaori turned to Sango and walked over to the bed. "See? Kaori is resting."

"Hmph." Sango said. She sat on the floor besides her and pushed the berries towards her.

"I don't want them. I just used food as an excuse to make to leave so that I could escape. I didn't work. Stupid Miroku." Kaori grimaced.

Sango raised an eyebrow, "You know that your plan wouldn't of worked anyway, right?"

"Eh, doesn't hurt to try..."

Sango shook her head at her.

"I wish I could climb a tree." Kaori stated. "Or _something._"

"I'm sorry," Sango looked down.

Kaori glanced at her, "What are you apologizing for?"

Sango swallowed, "If I'd been paying attention you never would've been injured."

"Please Sango, you fell over from pain _you_ felt. You would've been killed if I didn't help. Plus, no matter how annoying being stuck in a bed all day is- I feel fine. And I would do it again if you were in danger. Besides." Kaori grinned. "I'll have a wicked scar."

"But-"

"No buts. It's not your fault that's settled. This is life and things work out this way, it was either you dead or me with this wound. It's the sad way things work out. And we can't waste time worrying about it or feeling sorry for each other because it's a waste of energy." Kaori said.

"Is that why you don't think or talk about our village? Because it's a waste of energy?" Sango asked quietly. The subject had changed quickly.

"We're on our way there." Kaori said like that was the only way to answer the question.

"That wasn't my question, Kaori."

Kaori fixed her gaze on the wall, "Maybe it _is_ a waste of energy. They aren't here anymore, so why think about it. Especially if it only brings pain and harsh truth that we face everyday. People die, that's a harsh truth in itself. We all know this but can't accept it until it happens. Me crying, reminiscing, and mourning with do nothing to change that, Sango." Kaori's gaze slid to Sango's face "We just have to stand and face the harsh world."

"With our heads up and backs straight." Sango continued.

"Life is stupid." Kaori said.

Sango glanced at her curiously.

"You're born, you die. There's pain and love and secrets and happiness and despair and violence and troubles. And at the end of all of this, you die. You're dead, but for what? To live on the earth and face hard times? It's interesting." Kaori said.

Sango shook her head, "There _are_ people who have had happy calm lives ya know."

"It's unfortunate at how those are the boring ones." Kaori replied. "I can hear you guys behind the door. Miroku, Kagome, Inuyasha."

"Er...hi." Kagome said walking into the dark room.

"Ya know..I didn't hear anything." Inuyasha said. "I was trying to get Kagome and Miroku away from the door so that you know.."

"You think differently, it's odd." Miroku stated to Kaori.

"Thanks," Kaori yawned "I think."

"Have you wired your brain to be a pessimists? Sounds like it." Inuyasha said.

"No," Kaori replied "I am a realist. You all," She pointed to Kagome and Sango "Are optimists. And you-" She pointed to Inuyasha "are a boarder-line pessimist."

Miroku quirked and eyebrow with and amused look on his face, "And I am?"

Kaori shrugged, "I'm not sure yet. A couple days ago I was leaning towards 'brainless' but you might have half-a brain." Kaori gave him a half smile to let him know that she was joking-well...kinda.

"Okay," Kaori said. "All of you get out. I'm going to sleep."

"Why do you always order people around like that? It's rude."

It was unfortunate that Kaori didn't have anything to throw at Miroku. So, she settled with giving him the evil eye.

It took a while to get everyone to leave but eventually they did.

Kaori smiled a little, as she drifted off to sleep.

***_Next time:**

"**Someone needs to learn some patience."**

**Kaori took in the ruined houses and destroyed land. The place she'd once lives and trained in was gone.**

"**Poor guy," Sango said with a scowl. "Must want a death wish."**

_Thanks for reading._

_Constructive criticism and flames are welcome._

_Reviews are love._


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer****: I obviously do not own Inuyasha.**

_L e f t I n T h e D a r k_

6

"I am not helpless." Kaori said rolling her eyes. "I can get up on my own just fine, thank you." Kaori lifted herself off the ground without difficulty, ignoring Miroku's outstretched hand.

"I was just being gentlemanly." Miroku replied.

Kaori snorted and started to gather her things. They had stayed in the same village for about a month, they didn't want to leave until Kaori was at least half-healed. "Oh, can I have my weapons back?"

"Yes, I suppose." Sango replied with a small laugh. Kaori, personally didn't think it was funny that they took her weapons. It was just annoying, she _always_ had her weapons. It was weird, but she felt naked without them. Sango thrust her weapons at her. Kaori attached her sword belt around her and slipped her katana and dagger through the holes designated for them.

"Hey," Kagome bustled into the room. "Let me check and clean your wound before we go." She shooed a brooding Miroku out the room. Sango and Kagome had been fussing over her all week, and Kaori didn't think they would stop any time soon, no matter how many times she'd utter the words 'I'm fine.'

Kaori huffed and lifted her shirt a bit for Kagome's inspection. She'd borrowed more of Kagome's clothes after realizing that they were easier to move in. Kaori grimaced, the clear liquid that Kagome applied to her stomach burned. Kagome said it was from her time she called it 'cleaning alcohol' but she'd also said it had another name. Kagome told them that it kept the wound from getting infected. Kagome re-wraped the bandages gently and threw away the old ones. Kaori pulled down her shirt and grabbed the smaller dagger holder. She attached it to her arm. Sango held up two more, "Why do you need so many?"

"Well, if I have many knives then I need many places to put them." Kaori replied with a small laugh. Kaori slipped a dagger into it's place in her right boot.

Sango sighed, "Why do you need a knife in your boot?"

Kaori stared at her and said slowly, "Why...not?" The knife in her boot had saved her once, why not again?

Sango shook her head at her cousin. In Sango's opinion Kaori liked her knives a little _too_ much. She had so many, there were too many to count. Sango wondered where she got all them from and how her collection had gotten so big.

Kagome handed Kaori some fruit urging her to eat. Kaori rolled her eyes and ate bits of it, she hadn't really been hungry lately. She shoved the fruit at Sango and began to help Kagome pack things into her giant yellow bag. She didn't know how the thing could hold so much stuff, she just knew that it was pretty helpful.

Kaori looked up when she heard a soft knock at the door. She walked slowly across the room and opened it. Her eyes softened when she saw who it was.

"Asura, how are you?" Kaori asked the tired looking girl. Her brown hair was a mess and she was developing bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. Asura was probably having nightmares about Isuma. Her eyes also held a sad look, most likely from the wound she'd given her father while possessed.

"I am better, but I'm also here to check on you and Sango." Asura's voice was soft and light yet monotonous. The day after they had saved Asura, she had visited and said that she and the village were forever in their debt. Kaori had rolled her eyes and shrugged with a wince, being still in pain. Sango bowed and said something polite in a formal manor. Asura had apologized several times, it took several days to convince her that it wasn't her fault, it was the work of a demon.

"Oh, hello Asura." Sango said standing next to Kaori. "What brings you here?"

"I have come to wish you a safe trip." Asura said, she handed two bags to Sango. "Here are some supplies and food that should last you a couple of days."

Kaori smiled, "Thank you, it means a lot." Kaori placed a thin hand on her shoulder. "Take care of yourself . Everything will get easier with time." With that said, Kaori walked outside towards the group.

"Can we leave now?" Inuyasha all but whined.

"Someone needs to learn some patience." Kaori responded.

"Yea, because you're pretty patient yourself." Inuyasha replied with a yawn.

Kaori glanced at him and muttered "Touche."

Finally, they were ready to leave. Inuyasha, of course, kept complaining, but that was a given. Kaori, Sango and Shippo rode on Kirara, while Inuyasha ran with Kagome on his back and Miroku ran along side them.

"When will we be there?" Shippo asked.

Kaori looked down at him with a smile, she had a soft spot for the kid. "Hopefully this afternoon. We'll probably stay the night in the forest and then continue the search for the shards the next day." She explained.

"Oh," Shippo said. "Us not searching for the shards makes Inuyasha fidgety." Shippo laughed and Kaori grinned when Inuyasha glared up at them. He muttered "Am not."

Kaori rolled her eyes, and shifted on Kirara. Kaori ran her fingers through Kirara's soft fur and sighed. This was going to be a _long_ day. The clouds broke and the sun beat down on her, she groaned.

"Don't like the sun, Kaori?" Miroku said, noticing her wince.

Kaori ignored him, she squinted her eyes away from the sudden light.

Inuyasha and Miroku were having a conversation about something Kaori didn't care enough to listen to, Sango looked like she was in another world, and Kagome was telling Shippo a story, Kaori sighed, this was so boring. Her hand twitched at her side. It was a reaction to the throbbing in her stomach. It came at random times. She still hurt when she moved. But the others didn't need to know that. They worried too much.

Kaori wondered if it was a good idea to go back to the village. It would bring back so many memories and so much pain. But she knew she needed to see where she grew up one last time, no matter how much it hurt. She missed it, her family, _everything. _She'd be crazy not to...

"We're almost there. About an hour or so." Sango said softly.

"Alright," Kaori replied, her eyelids started to droop. How Kaori could possibly fall asleep while riding Kirara she didn't know, but she drifted off pretty quickly. She luckily had a dreamless sleep...

_**-:- -:- -:-**_

Someone poked her, because of the small fingers she knew it was Shippo. She didn't mind as much as she would with anyone else.

But, there was an annoying person yelling in her ear, and they must want a death wish.

"Wake up!" poke, poke poke. Oh, he was a dead man.

"Who's bright idea was it to let _you_ wake me up?"

"This seems like a reoccurring conversation between us." Miroku replied.

Kaori narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth, "Well-"

Miroku cut her off, "And this is where you threaten me with death."

Man, she had become _this_ predictable?

"I would suggest you run." Inuyasha hinted him. Miroku took three steps away, then disappeared.

"Poor guy," Sango said with a scowl. "Must want a death wish."  
>Kaori started to laugh. Everyone stared at her, they didn't understand what was funny Miroku stared from behind a tree, but brightened. Either from the sound of her laughter or the fact that she wouldn't kill him. Sango hoped that it was the latter.<p>

"What's so funny?" Inuyasha asked dryly, raising an eyebrow.

"It's just that...you all expect me to injure Miroku." Kaori said between laughs. "You know me so well."

They all stared at her while she continued to laugh.

"Wait," Kagome said. "Are you going to harm him or not?"

Kaori kept laughing. "I can't even believe that we're discussing this."

"Me either." Miroku commented.

"Come on," Sango said. "We should make our way towards...our village."

Kaori seemed to sober up after that, she straightened her back and walked beside Sango. They ended up at the village minutes later. Kaori took in the ruined houses and destroyed land. The place she'd once lives and trained in was gone. As were her family and friends. Kaori noticed the the rows of dirt piled off to the side and stuttered out, "Y-You buried them?"

Kagome nodded, "It was the least we could do when we got here."

Kaori closed her red eyes for a minute and whispered a soft "Thank you."

Kaori looked around to find Sango already gone. She'd probably disappeared to find her house much like Kaori was about to do.

Kaori walked down a familiar path towards her old house. She stumbled, every once and a while, over rubble and wood. Finally she reached a fairly nice sized house. It wasn't as messed up as the rest, half of the roof had collapsed and another part of the house seemed to have disappeared. Kaori walked through the front door and into a familiar wide room. She sighed as hundreds of memories flashed through her mind.

_~Flashback~_

"_Time to learn to fight, Kaori." Her father said gently.  
>"Fight?" The younger Kaori questioned, though her eyes lit up. "Like Akio?" She had asked glancing up at her older sibling.<br>"Yes, Like Akio."_

"_I don't think she's ready," Kama protested strong and determined. She was Kaori's mother, and she was worried.  
>Kaori pouted and scurried over to her father, "Isn't Sango starting?"<em>

_He nodded, "Choose your weapon." Kama glowered at this. Kaori's father ignored her and continued. "And you will be trained on how to use it properly."_

_Kaori thought about it, she's seen all the weapons, but she seemed to like throwing things best. "A knife."_

_Her father raised and eyebrow, "A knife?" He glanced at his son Akio, "I think your sister would like to be a dagger thrower."_

_Akio smirked and rubbed his knuckles into Kaori's head, she growled and kicked him in the leg. "It'd suit her, I'd think she'd be good with a sword too."  
>Kama huffed and extracted herself out of the conversation. She knew that one day Kaori would be a great fighter, and not just because of what was in her blood.<br>~End flashback~_

Kaori blinked, the memory was distant before, hidden in the crevasses of her mind. She hadn't remembered until she had come to her home. Thinking of her brother made her heart ache, they'd been close. Very close. She felt her eyes sting but willed herself not to cry. Tears wouldn't bring him back.

Kaori continued to walk through the house, spotting familiar objects and things. Kaori stopped and picked up a piece of black material. It was her slayer outfit. She'd might as well keep it. It looked like Sango's, the only difference was the color. Kaori's was blue, black, and silver. Kaori continued to look around the house. Parts of the roof looked like it would collapse at any minute, Kaori walked outside stepping over planks and parts of the roof.

Kaori walked towards a tree that wasn't far from her house. It was the tree Kaori, Sango, and Akio climbed all the time. Sometimes, even Kohaku joined them, but he was very young at that time. Kaori reached for a sturdy branch and pulled herself up.

"I remember this tree," Sango said quietly. She'd startled Kaori and she jerked her head around.

Kaori blinked, "Yeah, me too. Impossible to forget."

_~Flashback~_

_Kaori and Sango sat in their favorite tree. They only looked to be ten or eleven years old.  
>"Kaori, you don't have to carry that knife around all the time." Sango rolled her eyes.<br>Kaori sniffed and pointed at Sango's boomerang. It was a smaller version of the one she had now. "You don't have to carry _that_ around, now do you?"  
>Sango giggled, "Good point." Sango grinned. "When I'm older I'm going to have a huge boomerang, and I'll be the best slayer around."<br>Kaori snorted, "After me of course."  
>"What can you do with <em>your_ knives_?_"  
>"Well what can you do with your boomerang?" Kaori laughed. "Besides, I won't <em>only_ have my knives, I'll have a katana too."  
>"Huh. You two <em>girls_ actually think you can fight." Two boys from the village came from behind a bush sneering.  
>"I can fight." Kaori jumped from the tree proudly.<br>Sango jumped down too, but nudged Kaori in the rib.  
>"My dad said that girls shouldn't be allowed to be slayers." The shorter of the two said.<br>"Isn't _your_ dad supposed to be in the loony bin?" Kaori asked with fake interest and glint in her eyes. "That makes his statement irrelevant, right?"  
>Sango nodded, "Well, we'll show you. We'll be the best slayers out there."<br>"You sure talk big." The taller guy said. "Can you back it up?"  
>"I could ask you the same." Sango replied.<em>

_The two boys got into a defensive stance. Kaori reached behind her and grabbed her lone dagger. Kaori thrust it forward, it stuck the tree, just inches above the larger boys head.  
>"Y-you missed." He stuttered, tearing his gaze from the dagger above his head to the short girl who was smirking.<br>"Purposely." Kaori lied easily. "Wouldn't wanna have you killed would we?"_

_Sango snickered and rose her boomerang. The shorter boy grunted.  
>Both boys glanced at each other and decided to take their leave. Once they were gone Kaori laughed loudly and pulled her knife from the tree.<em>

"Kaori!"_Said an over exaggerated voice. Akio appeared from a tree across from theirs. "You can't just go throwing knives at people who bother you." He pretended to scold her._

_Kaori glared at him, while Sango giggled, "Yeah Kaori. You don't see me throwing my boomerang around."_

_Akio started to mimic their grandmother, "It is not becoming of a young lady to go around throwing sharp objects. That is a man's duty, protection. Kaori and Sango do _not_ need to learn to be slayers."  
>Kaori made a face, relying on people for her <em>own _safety was stupid.  
>Akio chuckled at her facial expression, and Sango and Kaori went back to their original positions on the tree.<br>~End Flashback~_

"Seems like just yesterday," Kaori stated.

"Hm?" Sango asked looking up.

"Oh, I mean it's seems like it was just yesterday that we were here playing in this tree.." Kaori elaborated looking down from her spot at the tree.

"Yeah.." Sango trailed off. Her eyes held a far away look and her eye brows were furrowed, Kaori knew that she was thinking about her future rather than her past. Maybe Kaori should be thinking about her future too, rather than looking back.

Kaori slowly climbed down the tree. She walked away leaving Sango with her thoughts. Kaori found herself walking to the area that the villagers were buried.

Minutes later Kaori found herself on her knees, kneeling with her head bowed. She didn't remember getting into that position but she didn't think that mattered much.

Kaori stiffened, she felt someone's presence behind her .

"Need a tissue?" That was Miroku.

Kaori ignored him and closed her eyes. She wiped her face and felt wetness there. She had allowed herself to cry.

"It's okay to accept help, you know." Miroku commented.

Kaori glared at him, it was supposed to mean '_Leave me alone_' He apparently didn't take the hint.

Miroku held up his hands in mock surrender, "Kagome's words, not mine."

"Fine Miroku, give me the damn tissue." Kaori said in the same tone.

Miroku passed it to her and red eyes met deep blue ones. Kaori nodded slowly, Miroku knew it meant thanks. She rose slowly and began to walk away.

Kaori was walking aimlessly, she found herself in front of her house again. Kaori glanced at it and decided to enter one last time. She veered left and went into her parent's room.

It was pretty dusty in there, Kaori observed. She looked at the possessions that were still sprawled around the room. There were books left open and clothes on the floor like they'd just been there yesterday. The wood of the floor creaked below her feet as she walked towards the book shelf.

Kaori tripped over something and went sprawling towards the floor. She twisted before she hit the ground, careful not to land on her stomach. She stood and looked at what she's tripped over...a loose floor board.

Kaori spotted some paper sticking out of it and reached to grab it. She pulled it out and sat down on the dusty floor. The cover was simple, it was battered and a little beat up but nice all the same. It was black with a simple flower on it. Kaori turned the page, first she noticed the wrinkled yellow paper, then she noticed the familiar handwriting.

_This journal belongs to  
>Kama Hayahsi<em>

_Oh,_ Kaori thought surprised. _This journal was my mother's_. She began to flip through the yellow worn pages when something fell out. It was a sliver necklace, the pendant in the middle was like black marble mixed with small red swirls. Kaori picked up the small chain slowly and tucked it inside the book.

She decided to keep her mother's journal and read it, she hoped to find out more about her family..there was no one else to tell her now...

Still on the floor Kaori tucked the small book under her arm, she looked under the loose floorboard to see if there was anything else hidden under there.

When Kaori didn't find anything she stood and grabbed the few things to take with her, her slayer outfit, a couple of bandages, some healing herbs and spices, and a couple of books for her own entertainment.

She met up with the others at the front of the village, they were ready to go. The sky was getting dark, but the moon was not visible because of the dark clouds. The air was moist, a storm seemed to be coming.

"Any villages near here?" Miroku asked.

"No," Sango answered "Not for several miles, it'd take hours to get there."

"We could stay here..." Shippo said.

Kaori shook head, that would be a bad idea, she wanted to get far away from this place. "Let's just find a cave." She suggested.

They slowly went down the mountain, within about twenty minutes they came across a cave. Inuyasha and Miroku went inside to make sure that there was nothing living inside it.

"We're clear," Inuyasha said.

They went inside the cave and dropped they're belongings. Kagome fumbled inside her large bag and pulled out a lighter. She made a fire and they all lapsed into an easy silence.

Kaori took off her weapons and laid them beside her, she leaned against the curve of the cave. The cold rock made her shiver and she wrapped her cloak around her.

Once she was sure that everyone was asleep, Kaori opened her mother's journal. The first thing that she noticed was that the first entry was dated a day after she was born.

_It's been a day since I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl. Daiki and I have decided to name her Kaori.  
>Today, Hikuru visited with little Sango. Sango is only a few months older than Kaori, I have a feeling that they will be good friends. <em>

_Hikuru knows everything, it'd be impossible for me not to tell him, almost as it was impossible to get him to _not_ hunt him down._

Kaori was confused, hunt _who_ down and for what? Kaori shook her head and continued to read.

_Though, when he and Daiki tried they couldn't find him. I could have predicted that.  
>Hikuru and Daiki were talking about how Sango and Kaori would be great demon slayers. I wasn't sure if that was such a good idea for Kaori, it didn't sound right at all. My husband and brother continued on how they would be so proud of the girls.<br>You could tell that Akio and Kaori would be close. He stuck by her side throughout the day. And I always thought that he wanted a younger brother! Akio, only being five told us about all the things he would teach her and how he'd always protect her.  
>The midwife found Kaori's eyes unnerving. She muttered something about being the eyes of a demon. I glared at her and wished her to shut up. The wise lady was also a gossiper. Hikuru stood straighter and took advantage of the fact that he was head of the village. He uttered some words that I didn't quite hear.<br>I was grateful for the fact that Kaori didn't look much like her father._

Kaori frowned, what?

_She only got his eyes and her slightly curly black hair._

Kaori slowly put the book down, Her father's had been brown, surly her mother meant the eye _shape_. Yes, Kaori thought, that made perfect sense. Kaori picked up the book again.

_Kaori is well, but very tiny. She didn't cry much her first night of existence and hasn't cried much today.  
>We expect great things from her and Sango, and I'm sure they'll be great things they'll do.<em>

Kaori put the book down, the fire was slowly dying.

Kaori laid on the cool ground and used part of her cloak as a pillow, slowly she fell asleep.

**||Next Time||:**

"**It's not so silly if it's upsetting you. I, too, have upsetting dreams,"**

"**You're feeling insecure."**

"**You can't just go throwing knives around!"**

"**I knew you would come, Kikyo." **

_Thanks for reading._

_Constructive criticism and flames are welcome._

_Reviews are love._


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Me no own Inuyasha**

_L e f t I n T h e D a r k_

_7_

Kagome rolled over in the now dark cave. The fire had gone out and everyone was sleeping. Kagome pushed her blanket aside and walked to the edge of the cave. She looked out into the night, the air was cool and moist. Kagome wished that she could see the moon, but the dark clouds were covering it. It was still raining outside and the breeze caused Kagome to shiver.

She'd had a dream, that was slightly upsetting. Kagome wasn't sure if Sango knew what she was going through, Kaori didn't really know, Miroku and Shippo wouldn't understand, and Inuyasha was the cause of it.

See, her dream was about Kikyo and Inuyasha. She seemed to think about the two a lot now. Specially sense Kikyo wanted the jewel from her. The first time she tried to get it she was unsuccessful, but Kagome didn't doubt that she would try to get it again.

Kagome ran a hand through her hair and thought about Kikyo trying to drag Inuyasha to the Netherworld with her.

Too bad Inuyasha stilled loved her...too bad Kagome loved _him_. The thought made Kagome's eyes widen and sent shivers down her spine. She'd always know she had feelings for Inuyasha but never admitted to _loving_ him. She'd just realized how true that thought was. Kagome placed a hand over her racing heart, the shock of finally realizing this was almost overwhelming.

The dream Kagome had was both of them, She, Inuyasha, and Kikyo standing in a clearing. Well first it was just Kagome and Inuyasha, they were sitting in the sun just talking. Then, Kikyo appeared and the sky got dark. Inuyasha had pulled away and turned to Kikyo, Kikyo reached for his hands and tried to pull him with her. Inuyasha looked at Kagome once with blank eyes, though the last second there was a flicker of something like sadness. Then Kikyo pulled him away, they disappeared into the dark forest.

After that, Kagome woke up, the dream scared her. She realized that she didn't want to loose Inuyasha.

She couldn't help to think that Inuyasha only wanted her around to help find the jewel. Kagome wrapped her arms around her knees and placed her head on them. Why was she feeling so insecure?

Kagome squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to forget about the dream. It'd be better if she just forgot about the whole situation.

Kagome continued to lean against the edge of the cave, the rain dripped from the top of the cave, falling down onto her bare feet.

**-:- -:- -:-**

_Kaori was starring at her reflection in a mirror. She looked normal and relaxed.  
>Suddenly her reflection changed, it tensed. But that wasn't possible, it was <em>her _reflection after all.  
>It was weird...it was like it'd changed but it didn't change. Kaori's reflections eyes darkened and her eyes narrowed, her dark hair blew in nonexistent wind. A dark aura seemed to surround her.<em>

_Kaori shrank back from her reflection, it was odd and sinister looking. It grinned back at her evilly._

_Kaori shivered...she was looking at herself, her own reflection yet it seemed evil...almost Alien to her. And the eyes...the eyes were hungry._

Kaori shivered and shot up from the ground. These dreams...they had to stop. Kaori shook her head and rubbed her eyes. They all seemed to have a meaning...but she had no idea what it meant.

Kaori lied back down, she hoped that sleep would come over her again. Kaori closed her eyes but she couldn't fall asleep. She could hear the echo of water dripping throughout the cave. The patter of the rain usually helped her sleep, but tonight it made her restless.

The darkness was giving her an uneasy feeling, Kaori knew that that was a response to the dream...

Kaori gave up and ran a hand through her messy hair. She looked around the dark cave. Wait...where was Kagome? She noticed the empty place where she had slept.

Kaori then noticed the dark figure by the entrance of the cave, Kaori walked over to it. She noticed that Kagome was hugging herself, she could see her sad expression just barely.

Kaori put a hand on Kagome's shoulder causing her to jump. "Sorry," Kaori muttered, careful not to wake the others.

"It's okay," Kagome mumbled shrugging. Her eyes drifted off to stare into the darkness, she shook her head and tried to clear her thoughts.

Kaori watched her do this, "Hey, are you okay?"

Kagome grinned and tried to sound upbeat, "Yeah! Yea I'm fine, nothing wrong here!"

Kaori slowly turned her gaze on her, the girl looked tired and sad yet there was a twinkle in her eye. Kaori shook her head and muttered two words, "You're lying."

Kagome's grin faltered, she seemed to slump forward. "Nothing...it's stupid, I just had a silly dream." Kagome picked at her fingers, then shivered violently, sitting near the cold rain wasn't helping one bit.

"Hm," Kaori said. "It's not so silly if it's upsetting you. I, too, have upsetting dreams," Kaori pulled Kagome from the edge of the cage and near the fire pit. Kaori started a fire and dug into Kagome's giant bag. "You look like you need some tea."

Kagome nodded, "No really, it's silly of me. It's no big deal."

Kaori rolled her eyes, "Why don't you tell me about it?" Kaori filled a pot with water and hung it over a metal shelf just above the fire.

Kagome recoiled, "N-no, I-"

Kaori stopped her, "It's fine, it's your business. I understand completely." And Kaori _did_ understand. There were certain things she kept to herself, everyone had a right to privacy.

They sat in silence for a while, Kaori was careful to take the pot off the fire before it started to whistle, she didn't want to wake the others. Kaori poured the steaming water into a cup and handed it to Kagome, she poured some for herself as well and handed Kagome a tea bag.

Kagome took a sip and said, "I had a dream about Kikyo and Inuyasha...and me." She confessed.

Kaori looked up curiously, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she said surprised that Kagome was opening you, but intrigued at where this was leading.

Kagome shook her head, "I want to tell you I need advice. I-I-" Kagome leaned closer to Kaori. "I'm in love with Inuyasha."

Kaori's eyes grew wide with shock, "When did you realize? Why do you make it seem like a bad thing?"

"Because...Inuyasha still has feelings for Kikyo," Kagome's eyes went downward, her hands shook as she lifted her cup to her lips.

Kaori's eyes narrowed then, "Was that your dream then? Inuyasha going to Kikyo?" When Kagome nodded slowly Kaori continued. Kaori thought about the best thing to say, but she was coming up blank. "Well...consider Inuyasha's feelings."

Kagome stared at her and Kaori knew that that was the wrong thing to say, "Ah, I mean he must be confused and hurt. The woman he loved didn't even kill him when he thought she did for the longest time, he thought she died and suddenly she's alive again and now he has _you_ to think about. You look exactly the same as his ex undead lover, yet you're completely different. He's probably worried about you all the same. The guy's probably going crazy."

Kagome set down her cup, "Yeah..." She began to tell Kaori about her dream in more detail and Kaori listened with interest.

"You're feeling insecure."

Kagome glared, she wasn't expecting Kaori to say _that. _But she knew that Kaori only spoke about what she believed was the truth.

"But," Kaori said "You should worry,"

Well, Kagome wasn't exactly expecting that either.

Kaori turned to face her, "Kikyo is affected by this too, she will probably try, like she has in the past, to drag Inuyasha back with her. You must consider her feelings in this, even if she isn't even truly living."

Kagome understood now, but it didn't really help her situation any bit more than it did before.

"Maybe you should tell Inuyasha your feelings."

Kagome stared at her and her eyes bugged out of her head, "Are you crazy?" Her arms sprawled out into every direction. Kaori sweat dropped and shrank back. "What kinda messed up idea is that?" Kagome continued.

"Uh, Sorry?" Kaori said staring at her friend.

Once Kagome calmed down a little she smiled weakly at Kaori, "Thanks, you're a really good friend."

"Anytime," Kaori replied, she hugged Kagome. They put out the fire and slept the rest of the night.

-:- -:- -:-

"Rise and shine!" Sango sang into Kaori's ear. Kaori noticed that Sango was in an unnaturally good mood this morning. It freaked her out a little.

"Too early...too cheerful." Kaori muttered.

"Onigiri?" Sango shoved it in her face.

Kaori glanced at her "Uh...thanks?" Kaori took the onigiri and yawned. "Is it still raining?" She really hoped the answer was no, she was tired of being wet.

"Nope," Inuyasha plopped down beside her. "Good thing, but I wish we had some real food." Kaori watched as Inuyasha stole and devoured her food.

"When we get to a village we'll eat well." Miroku said smugly. It was true though, Kaori wondered if he should be so proud about lying to people to get to their food and hospitality.

Kagome, Kaori noticed, was off to the side. She didn't come to the middle of the group where everyone was talking like she usually would. She was avoiding Inuyasha, Kaori realized. Kaori didn't think that this was the right way to handle the situation, on the other hand, she didn't actually know the _correct_ way to handle it.

Inuyasha nudged Kaori, "What's wrong with Kagome?" Brief concern etched it's way across his features before he put on an indifferent facade.

So he _did_ care, Kaori mused. Kaori effortlessly told him a lie about how Kagome was homesick and that she'd be over it by noon.

"Okay, whatever." Inuyasha shrugged like he didn't care, but she knew he did.

"How far away is the nearest village?" Inuyasha said standing.

"About a day away," Sango replied. "We'll have to set up a camp overnight."

Kaori had never truly realized how far their village was from everything else. She strolled across the room and pulled Kagome up, then she dragged her over to the group. Kagome glared at her. If looks could kill...

"What's been up with you Kags?" Inuyasha asked, immediately noting her presence. Kaori didn't know when she started studying Inuyasha and Kagome's reactions to each other but it was starting to creep her out. She was _not _going to be some kind of match-maker.

Kagome glanced up at him, "N-nothing much, I was just tired. So anyway," Kagome changed the subject not so tactfully. "Are we leaving anytime soon?"

"Actually," Kaori stood, "We should probably leave now." She walked over to the side of the cave where she'd left her small pile of belongings.

"There she goes.." Miroku muttered "Gathering her millions of sharp objects."

Kaori, realized that she was too tired to tell him that it's be rather easy to use one of those 'sharp objects' on _him._

She attached her sword belt around her waist and resting her hand on the hilt of her sword.

Shippo and Kirara were still sleeping and she hated to have to wake them. Especially since Kirara would be doing most of the work.

She bent down and patted them both softly on the head. "Time to wake up.

Shippo let out a big yawn and stretched, "We're leaving?" he asked while rubbing his eyes.

"Yep." Kaori said.

Kirara woke and rubbed against her ankle. She patted her head and looked at the other three. "Are we ready to go?"

They nodded, Kirara transformed and Kaori, Shippo, and Sango got on. Kagome was on Inuyasha's back as usual- that surprised Kaori.

They quickly were on their way, Kaori felt that this was going to be a very long day. She sighed and watched the scenery change.

**-:- -:- -:-**

"Are we almost there?" Shippo asked as Kirara landed in a clearing in the forest.

Kaori slipped of Kirara and nodded, "Yep, we'll be there tomorrow," She replied. Kaori stretched and observed the clearing. They were well hidden by the tress, but she didn't think that mattered much.

"I hate traveling," Inuyasha said as Kagome got off of his back. "I hate being hungry."

"I hate people who complain a lot." Kaori said. She swore she thought Inuyasha was going to throw a rock at her.

Sango laughed, "Why don't you go fishing?" Sango turned and pointed east "There's a river that way."

"I'm not good at fishing. They don't like me." Inuyasha replied yawning.

Kaori rolled her eyes, "I'll go, anyone got a spear ?"

Everyone looked at her blankly. Kaori glared at them, "What am I supposed to get fish with?"

"How about a fishing pole?" Kagome muttered dryly.

Since no one _had_ a fishing pole handy Kaori figured she had to make _something_ work.

The others weren't starring at her because of the _reason_ she asked. But did she really expect one of them to have a spear? That was what they expected from _her._

"Fine," Kaori shook her head. "I'll just make Miroku's staff work."

"_What?_"

Kaori leaned back on her heels and smirked, "Relax. I was kidding." She picked up a long branch from a tree off the ground and tossed it to Miroku. "Here, sharpen the end of this, it'll work." She tossed him a knife, which he narrowly dodged.

"You can't just go throwing knives around!" Miroku yelled. "And why do _I _have to sharpen the stick?"

Kaori was gone before he looked up, Miroku groaned.

"Sharpen this one too while you're at it," Sango tossed him another branch. She than walked away to find Kaori.

Miroku grumbled while using Kaori's knife to sharpen the sticks. Inuyasha laughed and asked him why he was even complying with Kaori's orders. Miroku glared and told Inuyasha that he'd like to live a little bit longer.

Finally, Miroku finished sharpening both sticks. He set them down next to him. Kaori jumped down from the tree above him and picked one up.

"Thanks," She patted Miroku on his head "You're a pal." She touched the sharp end of the stick, it would have to do.

Miroku glared at her and tossed her her knife.

"Now now," Kaori smirked, "Let's not go throwing knives around."

Kaori walked away, leaving an annoyed Miroku. Sango walked over and picked up the other stick. "What's with Kaori?" Miroku asked.

"Hm?" Sango asked. "Oh. She's always like that. It just took her a while to warm up to you guys. I know, she's a real annoyance." Sango snickered when she heard Kaori say 'I heard that!'  
>"When we first met she seemed warmed enough to give out death treats." Miroku commented dryly.<p>

"You don't have to get to know someone to give out a death treat," Sango rolled her eyes and followed Kaori through the trees.

"Duh Miroku." Inuyasha commented in a girlish voice.

**-:- -:- -:-**

Kagome walked through the trees. She hummed quietly has she tried to find the river that Kaori and Sango were at.

A million thoughts ran through her mind as well as emotions. She was worried and confused. All the traveling around was starting to annoy her. She just wanted to rest in one place for more than one day.

"Wench." A soft but cold voice said from behind her. "We meet again."

Kagome stiffened and turned, she looked into familiar cold brown eyes. She saw her curved lips that wasn't quite a smile.

"Hm, you don't look very surprised to see me." Kikyo said

"I knew you would come," Kagome responded, though she sounded more confident than she actually was. She backed up a few steps and strived to keep her face expressionless to hide the fear.

Kikyo looked curious, "Why are you out here alone with no weapon?"

"My friends are close by," Kagome thought that was wise to say. It served as a warning.

"Oh, in that case." Kikyo said.

Kagome should have run, but a couple seconds later she found herself bound to a tree. She kicked her legs out uselessly.

"Pity." Kikyo said. "I expected more of a fight out of you." She pressed her two index fingers on Kagome's forehead. "Your friends probably won't find you now that you're only visible to me, so I suspect that eventually you'll starve. Or get eaten by a demon. Whichever comes first." Kikyo shrugged. She reached slim fingers towards Kagome's neck and Kagome began to struggle more. Kikyo's fingers closed around her necklace that held shards of the Shikon jewel she yanked the necklace off of Kagome.

"We'll I'll be on my way," Kikyo said twirling the necklace around her fingers. "I'll probably run into an old _friend_." Kikyo disappeared.

Kagome suddenly felt like screaming but she knew that that would only amused Kikyo. She thrashed against the tree angrily and groaned..

**-:- -:- -:-**

Arrows didn't usually fly over Kaori's head. So when one did she was a little angry and a little confused.

"Hey whoever you are, you can't have our fish." Kaori yelled glancing at the small pile of fish she and Sango had caught.

There was a shrill laugh and a woman that slightly resembled Kagome appeared. Kaori knew who she was immediately. She was already pissed off enough because of the arrow incident.

"Trust me I do not want your-" Kikyo's nose wrinkled. "Fish."

"Then what do you want?" Sango said, she glance at her cousin. Usually Sango's glances meant not to do anything stupid. Kaori snorted, she always thought through attacks...most of the time.

"I was wondering if you could tell me where an old friend is. Inuyasha."

Kaori snorted loudly. She hoped that this lady wasn't asking her for anything after shooting an arrow at her. Apparently she didn't have manners. Sango glanced at her again.

Kikyo gave a significant glance to Kaori, "Is there a problem?"

Kaori stifled a laugh, people never ceased to amaze her. "Not at all, I'll just be all cheerful and ignore the fact that there's and arrow stuck in a tree and inch above my head and tell you where my friend is."

Kikyo narrowed her eyes, "I don't appreciate your tone."

"I don't appreciate your arrow." Kaori responded pulled it from the tree. Kaori could tell that Sango was annoyed by Kikyo as well.

Kaori's eyes zeroed on what was in Kikyo's hands, "Where's Kagome?"

"Here or there." Kikyo replied.

Kaori and Sango's eyes locked and they got into defensive positions.

"Now girls I didn't intend on fighting."

Kaori felt the need to bring up the arrow again.

"Hey guys is there a problem?" Miroku and Inuyasha came from behind the trees.

Inuyasha stared at Kikyo then at what she had in her hand. Then through clenched teeth he asked. "Where the hell is Kagome?

Kikyo shrugged.

"I'll deal with her, you guys go find Kagome."

Kaori wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let Inuyasha handle it, but she shook her head and went through the trees searching for her friend.

**||Next Time:||**

"**Y-you put a spell on me."**

"**Where are the jewel shards that rested around your pretty little neck hm?"**

"**I noticed you and Inuyasha were in a compromising position," **

"**You will let me come and go as I please. But if you have the nerve to stop me do so." **

_Thanks for reading._

_Constructive criticism and flames are welcome._

_Reviews are love._


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own.**

_L e f t I n T h e D a r k_

8

_Recap:  
><span>__"Where the hell is Kagome?"_

Kaori, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo ventured back into the dark forest with Kirara at their feet. The moon hung low in the sky, it was barely visible through the trees. Kaori touched the hilt of her katana lightly and asked. "Should we split up?"

"No," Miroku answered. "This forest is large, we don't want to get separated and lost."

The group was silent for a few minutes, they trudged through the cool night air, keeping their senses sharp. Shippo broke the silence when he started calling out for Kagome. The other three soon followed his example, but Kagome was no where in sight.

"Oh." Sango stopped in her tracks. The others looked at her curiously. "We need Inuyasha. He could follow Kagome's scent, and-_oh_ we've been so stupid. Kikyo probably used one of her powers to make Kagome only visible to her."

"Stupid bitch," Kaori muttered, pissed at Kikyo's antics. Miroku sent her an amused glance and Sango nodded in agreement. "So what do we do now?" Inuyasha had already gone off to get the jewel back from Kikyo, it was too late to catch up with him now.

"We keep looking for Kagome," Shippo said simply.

"Right," Sango muttered. They continued to search the forest.

-:- -:- -:-

"Where the hell is Kagome?" Inuyasha repeated, his jaw tightened and his teeth clenched.

"Inuyasha have you forgotten your manners?" Kikyo said. Inuyasha wondered briefly what manners she was referring to. "You didn't even say 'Hi'."

Inuyasha ignored her and repeated his question a third time.

"Still persistent, I see." Kikyo muttered. The shards of the Shikon Jewel shined in the dim light of the moon and caught the attention of Inuyasha.

His hands balled up into fists, "You stole Kagome's shards."

"Yes." Kikyo said, a small smile on her lips.

"Give them back." Inuyasha growled.

"Come and take them then," Kikyo challenged, she had the jewel clenched into a fist.

Inuyasha stepped forward and hesitated. Then he continued on until he was directly in front of Kikyo, "Give me the shards."

Kikyo's eyes widened at the sudden fire in Inuyasha's eyes, she took a step back from surprise. She held the shards tighter and looked at Inuyasha. Inuyasha's eyes glared down at her, they shown with anger, betrayal, and something else Kikyo couldn't identify. Kikyo met Inuyasha's gaze, deep brown eyes met golden ones. Just like old times.

"Inuyasha," Kikyo whispered. It was the first time she'd said his name in a while without anger or taunting. Inuyasha seemed to notice but didn't step away. Kikyo took this as a sign of encouragement. She reached out and place a thin pale hand Inuyasha's cheek. _I haven't touched Inuyasha's face in a while, _she thought.

Inuyasha blinked slowly, he wasn't sure how to react. Kikyo's touch felt...nice. He hadn't felt it in a while. He glance down at her again, he seemed to forget why he was there, he forgot his problems at the moment. Sometimes looking at her just did that.

Kikyo removed her hand and Inuyasha couldn't help but feel disappointed. Kikyo reach down and grabbed his strong hand. She closed her hand around his and appreciated the warmth. She welcomed the rough skin of his palm under her smooth skin. She felt Inuyasha slowly grasp her hand, giving it a soft squeeze.

Kikyo glance up at Inuyasha and a small smile graced her lips. Inuyasha looked back down at her and allowed himself to get closer. Inuyasha seemed to be getting closer and closer to Kikyo. Kikyo stood on her toes a bit and touched her lips to Inuyasha's. Inuyasha was surprised the first few seconds but kissed her back.

A thousand images flashed through Inuyasha's head. They were memories of him and Kikyo together before all of tis stuff happened. Before she died. Some memories happy and joyous, while others were sad and serious. Though, there weren't many of them, there were enough. Suddenly Kagome's face intercepted the flow of memories.

With a shock Inuyasha stepped back, he was angrier than ever. Angry at Kikyo and angry at himself. Though, he wasn't quite sure _why _ he was angry at himself.

Kikyo looked surprised and disappointed, saddened that the kiss ended suddenly. "Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha stiffened and tried to regain his composer and sort out his confused thoughts.

He wondered how he could forget about the task at hand and kiss Kikyo. How could he forget about Kagome like that? He came up with the only logical answer he could thing of. "Y-you put a spell on me."

Kikyo had the nerve to get angry, "I did no such thing! Inuyasha, that was all you and you know it! No one forced you."

The answer was the truth but Inuyasha couldn't make sense of it. He didn't want to accept it. He turned away and focused all attention on one thing, find Kagome.

"Wait Inuyasha!" Kikyo reached and grabbed for his hand. She noticed that she sounded desperate so she straightened her back and calmed down a bit. "You can come with me, we can be together, l-like we planned."

"I don't think that can happen." Inuyasha kept focus by thinking about Kagome. He turned and ran through the forest. He focused on picking up Kagome's scent.

He didn't notice Kikyo's glare and anger, he didn't notice that she still had the jewel.

**-:- -:- -:-**

Kagome panted as she tried for the 100th time to loosen the ropes around her. She'd squirmed and bit the rope but nothing worked, She leaned back against the bark of the tree an wondered why no one had rescued her yet. She shook her head and scolded herself. She _was_ invisible after all, how could they possibly find her? No one could see her.

Or so she thought.

"Oh, some friends you've got," A voice whispered, it was husky and deep. "They left you all alone out here, tied to this tree."

Kagome's breath hitched, she looked around for the source of the voice but it was no where to be found. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest when she felt warm breath going down her neck. "Where are the jewel shards that rested around your pretty little neck hm?"

"They...were...stolen." Kagome managed to choke out, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

"Really? How peculiar." Cold fingers caressed her cheek. Kagome began to struggle.

"Do you work for Naraku?" Kagome asked finally.

The whatever-it-was laughed it was an evil sound that sent shivers down her spine, "I work for no one."

"How do you know who I am?" Kagome demanded, trying to sound strong. But she knew she came off as weak.

"I've been watching you Kagome."

Kagome stilled, she couldn't take this anymore. She wanted to be seen! She wanted someone to find her and help her out a bit. She was tired of Kikyo and her tricks. As soon as she thought that the bounds around her loosened and she got away. She just hoped the others could see her.

"Nice trick..." The mysterious voice, she felt it's presence disappear and exhaled.

She looked around, now she just had to find her way through a dark forest, alone.

**-:- -:- -:-**

The small group walked in silence. Kaori thought it was dreadful. And boring. It was dreadfully boring.

But, they had a job to do. And that job was to find Kagome.

The air had grown foggy, thick, humid, and moist. Kaori kept a hand on one of her knives and her ears alert.

Miroku stopped and tilted his head to the side, "Did you hear that?"

Sango nodded and Kaori walked over to the nearest tree. She took out a dagger and plunged it into the bark.

Miroku stared at her "What-"

"Shut up," She cut him off. "It amplifies sound."

"Oh..."

The four of them listened carefully. "It sounds like only one person." Kaori said, she removed and sheltered the knife.

"Inuyasha?" Shippo asked hopefully. "Or even Kagome?"

"I'm afraid not." Sango replied starring hard at the figure in the distance.

"You guys..." Miroku said. "He has a jewel shard."

Kaori turned toward him, "How do you know?"

"Look, he hasn't used it yet, he's holding it." Miroku said. Sure enough the jewel shined through the darkness, but I second later it disappeared. The figure grew larger.

"Well he just used it," Shippo said observantly.

"Should we go after it? It has a shard." Miroku said.

"Well," Sango replied "We really need to find Kagome, so we should keep going."

"Doesn't matter." Kaori said bluntly starring at the figure. Miroku and Sango turned to stare at her. "What? Any one with eyes could tell that it's running towards us, obviously about to attack." Kaori reached for her katana.

"Wait!" Sango said.

Kaori glanced at her cousin, "What now?"

"I wanna kill it." She whined.

"Ugh, I already have my katana out!"

"You got to kill the last one." Sango pointed out. Did she? Kaori didn't recall.

"Are we seriously arguing about this?" Miroku asked beginning to get irritated.

Sango and Kaori glared at him, he wisely chose to back off.

"Fine." Kaori said. "You can kill it." She climbed a tree and sat on a low branch.

Sango unstrapped her boomerang from her back and held it up.

"Hey Miroku," Kaori called. "I suggest you get out the way."

"Right." He said.

The demon appeared, he was large and muscular. His skin was green and his clothes were ripped and tattered. His eyes were a orange color, and he had four arms.

"He's ugly." Kaori commented lightly.

Sango nodded and readied her boomerang. The demon didn't seem like one for talking and that was a relief. Kaori hated demons that talked too much.

The demon came at Sago and Kaori had to admit that it was fast. It threw a punch Sango's way. Sango dodged.

Sango climbed a tree directly behind the demon.

"What's she doing?" Shippo asked.

Kaori shrugged, "Getting an angle on it I guess."

Sango finally reached the top and threw her boomerang down. The boomerang went straight down and sliced the demon in half. Sango caught her boomerang when it came back to her and jumped down the tree.

"That was easy," She said whipping her boomerang in the grass to clean it.

Miroku nodded and reached down to pick up the jewel shard, "We should continue searching for Kagome."

They all nodded and continued to walk. Kaori was beginning to get tired and her feet dragged against the ground.

**-:- -:- -:-**

Kagome blindly made her way through the dark forest. She would feel a bit better if she had her bow and arrows but she'd left them at the camp. The wind blew strongly and made goosebumps appear on Kagome's bare arms.

Kagome's footsteps echoed through the night. She turned at every sound and her heart beat would erupt in a panicked frenzy. Even when the wind blew and the leaves rustled against each other the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

Kagome could barely see two feet in front of her, she wished she had a flash light handy. The moon hung low in the sky but she couldn't see it because the trees seemed to droop over her.

Kagome wondered if her friends were even looking for her. Did they know she was missing at all? Kagome dismissed this thought because her friends were probably searching for her right now.

Her thoughts wondered to Kikyo. What was she going to do with the shards? What did she want with Inuyasha?

That was a stupid question, Kagome thought to her self. She used her hands to pull vines and branches out of her way.

She felt her way forward until she bumped into something...a person. The person grabbed her wrists and she screamed.

"Kagome?" The person asked.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome said recognizing the voice almost immediately. She threw her arms around him and hugged him. Inuyasha hugged her back seemingly relived.

Kagome didn't want to let go, she was so relieved. She finally felt safe and less paranoid, even the dark forest seemed brighter. Kagome snuggled closer to Inuyasha, he was warm and she was freezing. She didn't want to move anyway, she just wanted to forget everything that had happened that day.

Inuyasha rested his chin on top of Kagome's head and replayed the past events through his mind. He winced upon thinking about Kikyo's kiss...He banished all negative thoughts from his head and was just happy that he'd found Kagome.

The trees rustled behind them, Inuyasha turned and pushed Kagome behind him.

"Oh, there you guys are," Miroku said coming through the trees with Sango, Kirara, Kaori, and Shippo in tow.

"Kagome!" Shippo rushed forward and hugged Kagome.

"It's about time we found you," Kaori said. "I was dead on my feet." Kaori leaned on Sango and tried to keep her drooping eyelids open.

Miroku snorted, "Being tired didn't stop you from insults or negative commentary."

Kaori shrugged, "You forgot sarcastic comments."

"So basically," Miroku crossed his arms. "Kaori wasn't helpful at all."

Kaori opened her mouth to respond put was pushed playfully by Sango. "Just shut up," Sango turned towards Kagome. "How're you doing?"

"I'm okay now," Kagome smiled at them to show them that she was fine.

"I noticed you an Inuyasha were in a compromising position," Miroku stated. This time Sango told _him_ to shut up instead of Kaori.

Inuyasha cleared his throat "uh..."

"Oh," Kaori spoke up again. "Miroku has a jewel shard. Inuyasha, did you get the stolen shards from Kikyo?"

"Err..."

-:- -:- -:-

"You have returned Kikyo," Naraku stated upon Kikyo's arrival.

"Yes, but I will depart soon." Kikyo stated.

"What makes you think I will allow you to leave?" Naraku asked, as his eyes sparkled with cold amusement.

"Hm?" Kikyo looked him in the eye. "You will let me come and go as I please. But if you have the nerve to stop me do so." Kikyo swept her arm around and smile. But her smile was mocking.

The amusement in Naraku's eyes died and he stood, "Are you challenging me?"

"No." Kikyo said in a soft but cold voice. "But you, and Inuyasha, cannot kill me. For you both have lingering affection for me."

Naraku glared at her but Kikyo continued, "This is why I got away with the jewel shard." Kikyo dropped the shards into Naraku's pale waiting hands.

"Goodbye Naraku." She turned an left.

-:- -:- -:-

**||Next Time:||**

"**I don't regret anything."**

"**You are the wind beneath my wings."**

"**Y-you're a demon!"**

"**I'm Raiden by the way."**

"**And I'm sure-I **_**know**_** that he'll be back by morning."**

_Thanks for reading._

_Constructive criticism and flames are welcome._

_Reviews are love._


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own.**

_L e f t I n T h e D a r k_

9

"Yes yes," The elderly man said. "You all will get rooms and meals, if you need anything don't hesitate to ask."

"Of course," Miroku said. "I hope this isn't to much trouble. I'm just trying to help people. I'm just a simple monk."

Kaori tried, and failed, to stop herself from snorting. Sango elbowed her.

"Nonsense!" The man exclaimed leading the group inside. "This isn't any trouble at all, as long as my home is safe again."

Miroku nodded along with the man. The elderly man gestured to the servants and they showed the group of teens to their room.

The oblivious man led a sneaky monk, two demon slayers, a priestess, a fox kid, a half dog demon, and a small pale yellow cat into the dinning room.

"I hope you enjoy the meal," He said gesturing to the table filled with breakfast foods. "If I may ask, when will you be ridding evil from my home?"

What evil? Kaori was tempted to ask. There was no demonic presence, or any dark aura , but of course _he_ didn't know that. He was obviously a superstitious man, Kaori hated superstitious people.

"It is best to preform such tasks at night," He lied. "I plan on going to the market today. No worries, the dark aura will be gone by the morning and we will be leaving in the morrow."

"Oh splendid!" The man said happily. He bowed and left the room.

"You're getting better at that," Kaori said sitting down and looking over the vast array of food.

"What?" Miroku asked.

"Lying." Kaori said, she yawned and reached for the bowl of rice. "So why are you going to the market?"

"Why are you so interested in me all of a sudden, Kaori?"

Kaori frowned at him, "Ugh never mind, I'm simply curious." She turned away and began to talk to Sango and Kagome.

"So Inuyasha, I never asked, why didn't you get the jewel shards from Kikyo?" Miroku asked. Everyone's eyes were suddenly on Inuyasha, waiting for an answer.

"I, um, got sidetracked." He answered suddenly interested in the table cloth.

Miroku raised an eyebrow, "Sidetrack?" Kagome shifted and tried to act like she didn't care.

"Yes. I was overwhelmed and forgot about the shard."Inuyasha answered.

"You would never _just_ forget about the shard." Kagome said, it was true. Inuyasha was obsessed with them.

Inuyasha felt trapped, he hated this feeling. And why should he care if Kagome was sad or mad about him with Kikyo? He shouldn't. He shouldn't feel guilty or obligated to keep it a secret for Kagome's sake. "Kikyo distracted me, okay? She looked at me and we got into it. We kissed and I don't care what you think about it." Lie. "I don't regret anything." Lie. "And I'll never feel any guilt." Lie. "I let her get off with the jewel. Why are you all questioning me like this?" He glared at nothing and walked out the door.

"A bit dramatic." Kaori broke the silence. "It's just...teenage angst?" She dared to look at Kagome who sat in silence the whole time. It seemed that everyone was looking at her.

She swallowed smiled, it faltered the minute she began to speak, "Why should I be bothered? I don't care what he does..."

"Exactly," Miroku said. "He shouldn't feel obligated to tell us anything, it's not our business who he's kissing. He's a free man." Kagome's chin trembled as if she were about to cry, and Kaori resisted the urge to beat Miroku.

Kagome said, "Um..I'm going to go...stock up on...fruit." She almost ran out the room.

Kaori punched Miroku, "You insensitive jerk."

"Ow..." Miroku rubbed his arm where she'd hit him. "It was true. I don't see why Kagome's all upset."

"You're blind!" Sango and Kaori shouted at the same time.

"True." Shippo supplied.

Kaori stood to go searching for Kagome. She left the manor ventured into the busy village. Kaori figured Kagome would be somewhere off to the side, out of sight. Kaori climbed a small hill and saw a pond, she started toward it when she noticed someone standing close to it.

"Kagome?" Kaori approached her friend who seemed to be holding back tears. Still? Kaori would have thought she'd be crying.

Kagome didn't respond, she stared at the water.

"Are you okay?" Kaori gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine." Kagome said. "I'm just a little put down- I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes...but, I'd like to be alone." Kagome said.

"Oh." Kaori said slightly surprised. "That's fine, I was just checking on you."

"Okay, thanks." Kagome said softly.

Kaori turned and went toward the manor. She hoped Kagome was going to be okay, this was hurting her a lot. Kaori wanted to talk to Inuyasha about it, but she was sure that Kagome wouldn't appreciate it.

Kaori grabbed her mother's journal from her small pile of stuff. She hurried out of the manor and climbed a tree and turned to a random page of the journal and began to read.

_Some of the people in this town are just rude! Someone's eye color gives nobody the right to judge._

_Who cares if Kaori's eyes are red, if they know what's best for them they should just shut up. Daiki said that fear drives people to do things they wouldn't usually do. But what's to fear of a ten year old girl? My daughter at that._

_The women in this village live their lives through stories, legends, and superstitions. They are so closed minded that they think it's wrong to allow girls to be slayers, they turn up their noses and gossip. And while they do this they're turning their children against Kaori, all because her eyes are different._

_The men are no better, the growl when they realize that Sango and Kaori are better slayers than their boys._

_Kaori showed no sign of any demonic power, I decided that it was a good thing to keep her in the dark. The villagers are already superstitious enough, but when a little red eyed girl shows up the freak out. I think the only reason they haven't done anything rash is because Kaori is the niece of the head of the village._

_Will she ever be accepted?_

Kaori closed the book as well as her eyes. She was never accepted in her own village. It was always Sango, the one everyone loved. Kaori thought this without an ounce of jealousy or bitterness. She wouldn't muse on everything Sango was and she _wasn't. _

One phrase in the passage stuck out at her, _I decided it was a good thing to keep her in the dark._ Kaori frowned.

"Kaori?"

Kaori recognized Kagome's voice and jumped down from the tree. "Are you feeling better?"

"Uh, yeah. A little." Kagome lied. Kaori realized that she wasn't okay. Kagome's smile wasn't as bright and her eyes lost their healthy shine. She'd probably push the issue to the back of her mind.

"What were you reading?" Sango asked.

"Oh? Uh, nothing." Kaori wasn't why she didn't tell them what she was reading, but it seemed like something private that she should just keep to herself.

Sango shrugged and walked towards the market.

"Where are we going?"

"We're just walking around," Sango replied. The tree girls marched into the village.

"Hey look," Kagome said. "There's Miroku."

"Oh yea? Is he getting slapped around?" Sango asked dryly.

"Er, yes." Kagome answered.

Kaori smirked. "Oooh entertainment." Sango glared at her, Kaori wasn't really sure why.

"Why are you all laughing at me?" Miroku whined walking over to them.

"The hand print on your cheek." Kagome supplied.

"I laugh when things are funny." Kaori replied cheekily, when Miroku glared. Sango's eyes seemed to narrow.

"I need a woman to bare me a son!"

Kaori started at him for ten seconds before bursting out in loud laughter. "Oh my God Miroku...So funny..."

Miroku continued to glare, "I was serious."

Kaori laughed harder, "Even...funnier." She said between giggles.

"Okay, okay," Kaori sobered up a bit. "To get a girl you have to give her a pick-up line." She said. "They love that." She lied.

Sango wondered why Kaori was _helping_ him and then wondered why she was getting so angry.

"Okay." Miroku nodded, "Like this?" He took Kaori's hands and said, "You are the wind beneath my wings."

Kaori managed to keep herself from laughing ad removed her hands from his grasp. "That was...that was perfect." She nodded, "Now go say it to that girl over there."

Sango glared at Kaori while Miroku walked up to some random lady and recited the pick-up line. He didn't get slapped in the face but his foot got a pretty bad stomping. Kaori and Kagome laughed uncontrollably.

Miroku strolled towards them and glared, "You did that on purpose."

"It was an improvement! Your foot only got stepped on this time." Kagome said.

"I would never do something like that on purpose!" Kaori said. "Maybe she had a boyfriend...?"

"You're pure evil."

"Ouch." Kaori said unaffected. "Want some more advice?"

"No."

"I'll give you some honest advice," Kagome said with a kind smile.

"Why are you guys helping him?" Sango asked, impatience slipping through her calm demeanor.

Kaori turned to frown at her, "It's all fun, but what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She said, "I'm going to go take a nap." Sango went the opposite direction.

Kaori frowned more, what was wrong with everybody today? She sighed, suddenly tired.

She turned to Miroku who was absentmindedly starring at some lady's backside.

"You know," Kaori began. "It's rude to stare."

-:- -:- -:-

Sango wondered over to a woodsy area and tried to clear her mind. Why was she so angry? She was so confused all of a sudden.

She was angry at Miroku and Kaori. She was always angry at Miroku, but she wasn't quite sure why she was angry at Kaori. It seemed like all anyone every talked about went a little like, Kaori _this,_ and Kaori _that._

Sango scrunched up her nose and wondered where this thoughts came from. She stepped over branches and tree roots and came to a clearing.

She looked around and decided to sit on the grass, she let out a long sigh.

"Hello."

Startled , Sango looked up, she spotted a boy her age leaning against a tree across the clearing. She wondered why she didn't notice him before. He was pale, but it didn't look natural. Her had brown hair that fell over his jade green eyes. He had broad shoulders and Sango could tell that he was pretty tall from how long his legs were.

"Hello." He repeated.

Sango stared.

"Are you deaf?" He cocked his head to the side. "Stupid question, if you _are_ actually deaf you wouldn't be able to hear me therefore you wouldn't reply." He scratched his head, thinking.

Sango continued to stare, who said stuff like that anyway? Sango frowned.

"Ah!" He exclaimed. "A reaction, of course, that could still mean that you're deaf and are simply just confused...hm.."

"Uh, I can hear you perfectly fine." Sango said, finally finding her voice.

"Oh, good. Why didn't you say anything? I felt like I was talking to that squirrel over there." He said shaking hair out of his face.

"Oh-um..." Sango didn't know how to reply.

"I'm Raiden by the way." He said and reached out a hand for Sango to shake.

Sango reached to take and then realized something, "Y-you're a demon!" No wonder she felt so uneasy around him. She touched her boomerang for a bit of comfort.

"Yes." He nodded, then noticed her unease. "Don't worry I'm not going to eat you."

Sango found herself tensing again and narrowed her eyes, "How can I be so sure?"

"Well I haven't eaten you yet. Plus, I can't do much in this condition." He replied shrugging and then winced.

Sango then noticed the bruises and wounds on his face and the others that scratched across his bare chest, she didn't dare ask what happened. Besides, he was a stranger.

Raiden pushed himself up against the tree bark, "You haven't told me your name."

"Oh, It's Sango. My name is Sango."

Raiden nodded, "Nice name. Well Sango you came out here lookin' pretty upset."

"Everybody's been upset lately." Sango replied as the recent events flashed through her mind.

"Ah," Raiden said. "Even though I don't know who 'everybody' is I'm assuming they're your friends."

"Yes, they are." Sango plopped down in the grass again and wondered why she was feeling so at ease with this demon present.

"Wanna tell me why you're so upset?"

Sango raised an eyebrow, "I think, Mr. Demon, that you're just bored and have nothing better to do with your time then sit here and listen to a stranger whine."

He shrugged, "More or less." he turned to look at her. "Let's not use the term 'Stranger' You're no stranger than I am. I think."

Sango laughed a bit. He had a weird way of saying things, or he was odd in general. He was a bit like Kaori and Sango decided that they'd either be best friends or worst enemies. Sango didn't know why but she'd rather it be the latter.

She sobered up and tried to summarize the reason why she was so upset. But as she explained more and more words began to spill out her mouth and she found herself telling him everything. She couldn't help it, she needed someone to vent to and right now, that someone couldn't be Kaori. The words tumbled out like water flowing down a waterfall, and it didn't stop until she was out of breath with talking so much.

"You seem to be quite jealous Sango." He said after hearing her rant and nodding like that was the finale decision and nothing was going to change it.

"I'm not jealous. Besides, who do I have to be jealous _of?_" Sango rolled her eyes.

"Random ladies. Kaori seems to be your main target, though, from the way you described the situation."

Sango groaned.

"Well if you really like this guy, tell Kaori to back off. Though, I'm not sure Kaori is really _doing_ anything. It was created by your jealous mind, but hey tell her off if you want." Raiden shrugged.

Sango stood, "I better get going."

"Hey, don't I get an award for listening to you whine?" Raiden demanded.

Well, Sango thought, he seemed nicer earlier. Then she said, "What do you want?"

"Do you have any bandages?" Raiden pointed to his chest and arms. "I'd like for my wounds to not get infected."

Sango's face seemed to soften. "Sure, I'll be back." Sango disappeared through the trees.

Sango came back ten minutes later to find Raiden sleeping. "Are you serious?" She muttered. She wasn't going to clean his wounds _for_ him. She poked him a few times and he didn't stir. "Ugh." She got up to leave.

One of Raiden's eyes popped open, "I wanted to see what you would do."

Sango resisted the urge to throw something at him. She rolled her eyes and moved the bucket of water towards him with a cloth and clean bandages.

Sango stood, noticing that the sun was setting. Her friends would probably be worried about her. "I better go."

"Oh," Raiden said, he glance up. "Will I see you again?"

Sango shrugged because she honestly didn't know, "I don't know. Nice meeting you."

Raiden nodded and looked at her, "You too, Sango."

Sango turned and began to walk the opposite direction, she looked back but didn't even wonder why.

-:- -:- -:-

"Where's Sango?" Kaori whined. She sat in the manor, throwing the seeds from fruit at Miroku's head.

"Sango can take care of herself, I'm sure she's fine." Miroku said, wincing whenever a seed managed to hit him on the face.

"Wow your concern for me is amazing." Sango said sarcastically settling down next to Kaori.

"Sango! Where have you been?" Kaori grinned a shook a finger in front of her face.

"Um, around. Thinking...uh and stuff."

Kaori raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything else on the subject. Miroku, however, decided it's be nice to pry and find out what Sango had been doing.

Kaori threw a seed at his face, "Stop prying, it's Sango's business."

Miroku glared, "Can't you throw seeds at someone else's face?"

Kaori rolled her eyes and Sango sighed and laid on her back across the floor.

"You guys," Kagome said looking outside at the darkened sky and rising moon. "Inuyasha hasn't come back yet."

The three of them glanced at her then back towards the floor.

"Don't worry Kagome," Kaori managed. "He's fine. And I'm sure-I _know_ that he'll be back by morning."

-:- -:- -:-

**|| Next Time ||:**

"**You certainly don't have to explain anything to me either. What you do is your business, you made that clear yesterday. Now I'm sorry for bothering you-"**

"**It was about...my wind tunnel."**

"**Tryin' to get rid of me?"**

"_**Trying **_**is the key word. I doubt that I'll succeed."**

"**The demon slayers of the Mountain, killed my mother."**

_Thanks for reading._

_Constructive criticism and flames are welcome._

_Reviews are love._


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** **I****don't****own.**

_L e f t I n T h e D a r k_

10

Kagome simply couldn't fall asleep. She'd been up all night, she couldn't sleep peacefully without knowing if Inuyasha was alright. She tossed and turned and kept glancing over at the sleeping forms of Kaori and Sango.

Kagome sat up but slouched, she tied her hair up and dully stared at the ceiling. She heard a soft rustling sound and jumped up, hoping it was Inuyasha.

She crept past Sango and Kaori and walked into the hallway, she spotted Inuyasha's figure about a foot away.

Kagome walked up to him but didn't say anything. She stared at the ground. She didn't want to ask him where he had been, or anything really. Kagome regretted coming out of her room.

"Kagome," Inuyasha said, his voice sounded strained.

"Hello Inuyasha," Kagome said formally.

Inuyasha winced, "Aw Kags, don't talk to me like that."

"Like what?"

"All formal, can't we just forget about this whole thing?"

Kagome turned her head and shrugged, "Mm."

"Look Kagome," Inuyasha started. "I'm sorry-"

"There is nothing for you to feel sorry about, Inuyasha."

"Kagome, let me explain-"

Kagome clenched her teeth, "You certainly don't have to explain anything to me either. What you do is your business, you made that clear yesterday. Now I'm sorry for bothering you-"

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled, eyes flashing. "-Will you listen to me?" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her a bit.

"As I said before, there's nothing to apologize for, you don't have to explain anything to me."

Inuyasha frowned he was beginning to get frustrated. "Kagome, why are you acting like this?"

"You're hurting me." Kagome said, his fingers were digging into her shoulder.

He immediately released her with wide eyes, "O-Oh, sorry-"

"It's quite alright." Kagome turned, eyes blurry with unleashed tears and said. "Goodnight Inuyasha."

And Inuyasha replied with his head bowed, "'Night Kags."

-:- -:- -:-

That morning Inuyasha got kicked in the head by Shippo. "Oh now he decides to show up!"

Inuyasha growled and picked up Shippo by his foot and held him upside down. "I was trying to sleep."

Miroku stood behind the two with his arms crossed. "So," He said. "Where have you been?"

"What are you, my mother?" Inuyasha let Shippo go and plopped down on the floor.

Miroku huffed and muttered, "Who would _want_ to be your mother?"

Inuyasha scowled, "I heard that!"

"Good!" Miroku said. "Frankly, I don't care where you went. But knowing you I thought you'd gotten yourself killed and Kagome probably felt that way too."

"If not worse from what you said to her earlier!" Shippo added.

Inuyasha put rested his chin in the hand, "I don't get what she was all worked up about."

"You sir, are an idiot." Kaori strolled into the room with Sango in tow. Sango just looked at him like Inuyasha was a piece of rotten meat, and that didn't need any words.

"Why is everyone looking at me like that today?"

Kaori decided to ignore that question and posed another one, "Have you talked to Kagome?"

"Er, yes." Inuyasha answered, things usually didn't turn out good if Inuyasha answered something with an 'Er' at the beginning.

Kaori sighed and brought her knees up to her chest, she rested her head on them. "How'd it go?" Kaori continued, looking at him, watching for some type of reaction.

"Fine." Inuyasha's face became a mask. Kaori decided that it's be wise not to prod him with more questions, that was exactly how he got mad yesterday.

"Good morning guys," Kagome entered the room. Everyone turned to look at her, including Inuyasha, but she didn't acknowledge his presence. "I was sent to tell you that breakfast is ready."

Everyone nodded and stood, Sango walked up near Kagome who practically ran out the room, Inuyasha was behind them, and Kaori stood lazily taking time to stretching, while Miroku watched her like a creeper.

She rolled her eyes at him and followed him towards the dining room. "It's going to be really awkward." He said. Kaori nodded, she wasn't looking forward to this meal, she trudged towards the dinning hall. Once she got their she took a seat between Kagome and Sango.

Everyone was quiet. Inuyasha and Kagome were too busy trying to ignore each other, while the others were waiting for which one would do or say something fist.

Kaori sighed at the silence and decided to break the silence and asked, "So when are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow," Kagome answered at the exact same time Inuyasha grumbled, "Today."  
>Kagome glared at him, and Inuyasha scowled, "Whatever. Tomorrow."Everyone except Kaori was tense, waiting for an argument. Frankly, Kaori didn't think Kagome and Inuyasha would argue, they'd probably just end up making out. The group fell silent again and Kaori grimaced. Miroku was right, this <em>is<em> awkward. Kaori took out a knife from her boot and began to sharpen it. The loud piercing noise caused everyone in the room, with the exception of Kaori of course, to jump a foot in the air. Kaori found her self smiling as the ran the blade against the sharpening rock again. Miroku rolled his eyes at her and Inuyasha seemed to want to snatch the knife out of her hands and stab her with it. Nice. Kaori set down the first knife and took out another. One might say that her knives magically appeared out of thin air. While sharpening her knife she looked around the table, Sango looked as uncomfortable as she, Inuyasha and Kagome were pointedly looking away from each other, Shippo and Miroku just looked annoyed at the silence."Well," Kaori put the knife away and stood. "I'm done, have fun sitting in silence." Kaori walked outside and sat under a tree. She watched the lively village and busy villagers. It reminded her of her own village. Content, Happy, independent.

Sango and Shippo soon joined her under the tree. "Do you think that if everyone leaves the room Inuyasha and Kagome will talk to each other?" Shippo asked.

Kaori shrugged, "I guess it's worth a try, I'll go drag Miroku out." She stood and walked back into the manner, she stood in the doorway and called Miroku. "Pssst, Miroku, I need your help with something." She grabbed his arm and pulled him out the room.

Miroku looked at her funny. Mostly because Kaori never needed his help with _anything_ and that he was in the middle of finishing his breakfast.

Kaori let go of his arm and said "Sit." when they reached the tree. She sat back down next to Sango and wondered if Inuyasha and Kagome would actually talk to each other.

-:- -:- -:-

Kagome looked around the now empty room and shifted she glanced at Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye but quickly returned her gaze to her plate.

Inuyasha sat across from her with his arms crossed and his usual bored/annoyed expression on his face.

Kagome stood to leave, she moved her hair out her face and stalked towards the door but a hand reached out to stop her.

"Kagome, wait." Inuyasha said. "Are you still mad at me?"

"No, there's nothing for me to be angry about." She lied.

"Stop with that bullshit!" Inuyasha yelled, anger and frustration seeping through his features making him look older and tired.

"Excuse me?" Kagome asked, she didn't turn her head to look at him, she couldn't. "What do you mean?"

"If you're mad about something I did you can at least tell me _what_."

Kagome thought about the past events and looked at Inuyasha. Then she looked down at her feet. She felt moisture build in her eyes, but told herself she would _not_ cry. Her eyes stung and she blinked her eyes shut hard. She turned away from Inuyasha and began to walk away.

Inuyasha frowned and grabbed Kagome's wrist. He turned her around and she let him. He wiped off her tears but more seemed to come. So he hugged her, crushing her to his chest, resting his head atop hers.

"I'm sorry for whatever I did Kagome."

Kagome frowned in his chest, he still doesn't know what he did? Her eyes stung with tears again but she kept them back.

"Kagome." Inuyasha said gently has he could. "Why are you crying?"

Kagome sighed and replied lowly, "Because you're an idiot."

Inuyasha chuckled but then seemed to sober. "I know I am. Because I made you cry."

Kagome stopped crying and looked up at him. Inuyasha grinned and kissed her on the forehead. "Are we okay now?"

Kagome grinned at him and said, "Yeah, we're good."

**-:- -:- -:-**

"Holy shit!" Miroku sat up, awaking from his dream. He held his head in his left hand while he stared at his right hand with the beads wrapped around it.

A high pitched sound brought him out of his thoughts. His head whipped around to stare at Kaori...sharpening her knives.

"...Bad dream?" Kaori asked, putting down the knife. Now that Miroku looked he noticed several lethal weapons surrounding Kaori. He wondered how many she could even carry. His eyes widened as he took in how many there actually were.

"What's with all the weapons?" He asked not sure that he wanted to know.

"Oh," Kaori said glancing at the grass where all her weapons lay. "I was sharpening them. You sleep like a rock, by the way."

Miroku shrugged, he'd been told that before, but he slept through the dreadful sound of Kaori sharpening her knives? Wow.

Miroku stretched and asked, "Where is everyone else?"

"Sango and Shippo went to see if Kagome and Inuyasha made up. Seeing as they haven't come back I'm assuming they did."

"Ah," Miroku said. "That's good."

"So 'Roku, what'd you dream about?" Kaori asked curiously.

"Oh, yea...it was nothing really."

Kaori rolled her eyes, "It didn't look like nothing."

Miroku frowned at her but answered her question. "It was about...my wind tunnel."

"Oh," Kaori said. She'd never _seen_ Miroku's wind tunnel, she'd only heard of it. But she knew it was a curse from Naraku. Since she knew this she tried to be gentle with the situation. "And what happened?"

"It consumed me." Miroku replied. "I got sucked into my own wind tunnel."

Kaori knew there was more that he was mentioning but let it go. She frowned and said. "You'll be fine. We'll defeat Naraku and your wind tunnel will be no more."

"...Yea." Miroku said. "It's okay, I've had the dream before."

Kaori frowned at his response but put her hand on top of his in reassurance and said the only thing she could think of, "Everything will work out."

"I hope so, Kaori, I hope so."

**-:- -:- -:-**

Sango rounded the corner to see if Miroku was awake. And he was, though, he looked like he was in a deep discussion with Kaori.

Sango frowned and clenched her fists. She shouldn't be jealous, the two were just having a conversation. But why could Kaori be the one to be there when he woke. Sango shook her head and cleared her mind. It was her own fault for leaving in the first place.

"Hey Sango," Kaori said looking up to see her cousin standing there. She removed her hand from atop of Miroku's, she seemed to have forgotten it was there.

"Hey Kaori," Sango tired to calm down. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Kaori grinned at her, "Sure." She stood leaving her weapons behind in the grass.

Sango and Kaori walked towards a small pond and sat down under a sakura tree.

"So what's up?" Kaori asked.

"I just want to...warn you." Sango said.

"Warn me?" Kaori raised an eyebrow.

"Yes about Miroku. I just-don't get to attached, he moves on fast." Sango shrugged and dug her nails into the ground and pulling out grass.

Kaori stared at her and chuckled, "You're warning me about Miroku? What do you mean, Sango? I don't understand what this is about."

Sango sighed and said "Never-mind. It was stupid."

Kaori stared at Sango, she thought over Sango's words and her eyes widened. "Sango, do you love Miroku?"

Sango's eyes widened and she shook her head. But she knew Kaori probably saw through the lie, since Kaori had known Sango all her life.

"Sango trust me. I don't like Miroku." Frankly, Kaori couldn't even believe that she was having this conversation. With Sango no less.

Sango didn't look convince, "You've been spending an awful a lot of time together."

"I don't think so. Sango, that just the-well, jealousy talking."

Sango bowed her head and she uttered a soft, "Oh."

"Well okay then." Kaori stood and pulled Sango up with her. "That's settled. I still can't believe you actually thought that." Kaori shook her head, Miroku was nothing but a friend to her, right? For now on she'd keep her distance from Miroku, if it made Sango feel any better.  
>Sango smiled and hugged her,"I don't really know what I was thinking." But her paranoid thoughts led her to believe that maybe Miroku like Kaori instead of vise-versa. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.<br>Kaori walked towards the field where Miroku and her weapons were, Sango turned towards the opposite direction

"Hey!" Kaori called. "Where are you going?"

"Oh," Sango said. "Uhh, I'm going to take a walk. Go on, I'll be fine."

Kaori raised an eyebrow but shrugged, "Alright."

-:- -:- -:-

"Ah, you're back. Didn't expect that."

"Yea, well me either." Sango replied honestly. Though, she wasn't quite sure why she came back. "How are your injuries?"

"Better than before." Raiden winced when he shrugged.

"Can I ask how you got them?"

"I think you already did." Raiden answered in that way of his. "It's a long story. Besides, I've heard nothing about you other than that you're the jealous type."

Sango frowned and shook her head. "Don't turn the conversation back to me. Anyway, I have time."

Raiden sighed and leaned his head back against the tree. "Won't your friends wonder where you are?"

"Tryin' to get rid of me?"

"_Trying_is the key word. I doubt that I'll succeed."

Sango rolled her eyes and sat down in front of him in the grass. "So, how long have you been out here alone?"

"I haven't really been alone." Raiden answered. At Sango's raised eyebrow he whistled. A large bird came flying towards them. It was all blue with a long beak and huge wings. Really, it was big enough to ride on. "This is my bird, Kei. He's been bringing me food and water and things. He's very smart." Raiden affectionately patted Kei on the head. Sango watched as the large bird turned into a much smaller version of itself that could easily fit in the palm of her hand. It transformed much like Kirara could.

Sango watched it flutter and sit on Raiden's shoulder

"Anyway," Raiden said bringing Sango's attention back to him. "It's a long story, why I'm out here. As to why It's only me and Kei? Well...We're all alone. There's no one else." His eyes were saddened. His bright green eyes had dimmed a bit and he stared in the night, recalling memories.

Sango tilted her head, "Tell me about it, I got time." She said thinking about a compromise. "Then, I'll tell you about myself."

Raiden cocked an eyebrow, and for a moment Sango thought he would say that he didn't care about who she was, but his lips turned up in a half smile.

"Alright if you insist." Raiden said, the smile vanished and he turned is body towards Sango. "Really, it started ten years ago, when I was eight. My mother- my mother was an amazing woman, she was a demon like my father. She had great power though, that I seemed to inherit. But one night she was killed..."

The scene seemed to change in front of Raiden's eyes.

_He was in a small makeshift village again, a village for demons. It was uncommon, lots of demons of different kinds didn't generally live so close to each other. It would cause many disputes, arguments, and fights._

_The sky, he remembered, had been red. As was everything else around him, his village was on fire. His little hands gripped his mom's skirts. His mom had scooped him up off the ground and ran out of their hut with his father trailing behind them. Everything else was up in flames, the smoke was draped in thick layers, making it hard to see and breathe._

_His mother had set Raiden down to push them into a corners has flaming roof fell from above. They quickened their pace. Worry was etched across Raiden's parents' faces._

_Raiden's small family reached a small clearing, smoke was still in the air, and the screams from other demons could be heard over the roar of the flames._

_Raiden raced to catch up with his parents but fell in the gravel and scrapped his knees. He coughed violently and looked down at his hand. Blood mixed with dirt and ash stared up at him from his palms. And he said something he had never uttered again "I'm scared." He clenched his fists and his eyes moistened, "Mom, I'm scared,"_

_His mother turned when she heard him fall, "It's okay, honey. Everything will be okay." She wiped his face, "Everything will be okay."_

"_Listen__to__your__mother__lie__to__you__boy.__" __The__rough__voice__said.__ "__How__does__it__feel,__demon,__to__have__to__lie__to__your__spawn?__To__tell__him__it__will__be__okay,__when__you__know__it's__not?__"_

_His mom was not stupid, and she was no weakling, she had powers and she better had used them. But just a few seconds had thrown her off guard and the damage was done. The slayer had struck, and she wouldn't make it. She knew that too._

"_Slayers.__" __She__muttered.__ "__Let__my__son__go...let__him__go.__"_

_Raiden__had__watched__her__die,__he'd__watch__her__give__up__and__fade.__He__had__watch__her__beg__to__them__to__save__him,__he__watched__her__throw__away__her__pride__and__everything__she__had__ever__worked__for._For him.

_Raiden__had__changed,__as__his__father__scooped__him__up__and__ran__in__the__opposite__direction.__He's__changed__for__the__better,__and__the__worse.__He__will_never _fall,__falter,__or__fade._

"Demon Slayers." Raiden said, coming out of his memories and startling Sango when he suddenly began to speak again. "The demon slayers of the Mountain, killed my mother."

Surprised Sango looked up at him. His eyes had turned cold and icy and his fists were clenched. As Sango stared at him, her heart seemed to drop into her stomach.

_Thanks for reading._

_Constructive criticism and flames are welcome._

_Reviews are love._


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** **Idon'town.**

_L e f t I n T h e D a r k_

11

"A Demon slayer of the Mountain..." Sango muttered, keeping her eyes on her hands. "Are you sure...?"

"Positive." Raiden muttered gravely. "They announced it because they were proud, I remember their uniforms."

Sango swallowed. She remembered when a couple of slayers had returned ten years ago, they had announced with great pride that they had killed a whole village of demons. Sango had cheered. Of course she cheered, she was seven and didn't fully understand._ But,_ Sango thought, _even at my age now I would've cheered._ But now she'd changed.

When Kaori and her were trained, their sensei never told them that demons had feelings and families. They learned, but they were so ignorant. They were told that demons only had thoughts about hunger and killing. Sensei had said that being a demon slayer meant to protect those you love.

_Not all demons are evil. Like not all humans are good._

Kaori understood this better than Sango did. Once, when they were young Kaori even voiced her opinion. She was put on punishment and almost shunned for such a thought that 'Demons were like humans too. They have feelings and more.'

Kaori had also been yelled at. Words that both she, and Sango would never forget.

"_Find your resolve now girl! And while you're at it, find your place! With those eyes of yours we're already cautious, but with such evil thoughts like those you will be banished. Learn when to keep your mouth shut. You must know already how the village feels about you..."_

Kaori, who's eyes had been narrowed, opened her mouth to say more on her thoughts. But Sango glared at her and pinched her arm, shushing her quietly because Sensei was always right. Kaori rolled her eyes, which had become stony when Sensei had began to rant about the purpose of killing demons.

"Hello? Sango? Are you in there?" Raiden threw a pebble at her head.

"Ouch." Sango muttered, coming out of her trance. "Sorry, I was just...thinking about something. Continue," She encouraged.

"Ah well. My father and I were refugees for a while. I was getting stronger while my father seemed to be getting weaker. Us demons don't get deceases that humans get, but over the years his strength was steadily decreasing.

"And then, we met Naraku." He continued not noticing Sango's expression which was a cross between surprise and horror. "He said that he knew where a jewel shard was, to help us. He said he wanted nothing in return. My father and I were so shocked we didn't stop to think."

Sago listened attentively, digging her fingers into the ground at the thought of Naraku. Anger and hatred flowed through her veins, she clenched her fists.

"Uh Sango? Do I need to throw a pebble at you again?" Raiden asked absentmindedly piking petals off of small flowers.

"Heh, no," Sango said awkwardly.

"Anyway," Raiden continued, throwing aside the flower stem and piking another, "He told us the location. I admit, I was happy to be able to steal a jewel shard from that place. It was, the Demon Slayer village, in the Mountain."

-:- -:- -:-

"So, what did you and Sango talk about?" Miroku asked when Kaori returned from her and Sango's talk.

"Nothing that concerns you." Kaori replied glancing at him. Well, that was a complete lie. _Everything _they talked about had to do with him, but he didn't have to know that. She wondered if he even _knew_ that Sango had feelings for him. She doubted it.

"C'mon, you can tell me." Miroku urged, smirking.

Kaori rolled her eyes and began to gather her scattered weapons. "If I tell you I'll have to kill you."

"Understood." Miroku said shaking his head. "Hey, don't all those weapons weigh you down?"

"Not much." Kaori answered, putting them in place.

"Not even a little bit?"

"A little."

"So, if you swim with them on you'd drown because of the weight?"

Kaori raised an eyebrow, "Don't get any ideas. I'd just take them off."

Miroku chuckled, "I was just curious." He rested the grip of a knife in his palm. "I'm just going to assume that you have Kunai knives."

Kaori rolled her eyes again, "If you were observant, you'd notice that most of my knives are Kunai knives."

"Ah, why do you also carry a katana if you have all these weapons?" Miroku gestured to the weapons Kaori was gathering.

"I learned to use knives and Shuriken first, I am most confident with them. Out of every other weapon I trained to use after I am most comfortable with the katana." Kaori answered his question.  
>"Makes sense." Miroku shrugged and handed back her knife. "Oh, Where's Sango?"<p>

Kaori sighed, she wondered how long it would take him to notice. It was not looking good for Sango. Miroku was as clueless as Inuyasha. Actually, after today, Miroku might be _more_ clueless than Inuyasha. "I'm not sure."

"Wasn't she with you?" Miroku asked distractedly.

"Yes...then she went somewhere."

"Oh, obviously." He replied sarcastically. Though, he didn't ask where or express any concern. Kaori sighed again. _Boys_.

"So," Kaori said, changing the subject. "We're leaving tomorrow?"

"Yeah." He answered. "I think we should leave tonight, we've wasted enough time here."

"Agreed." Kaori answered. The two fell into a comfortable silence.

Kaori sighed and wondered what to do now. She was bored all the time. She laid on her back and stared at the sky. It seemed as boring as anything else. The moon and stars weren't out, it was cloudy. Kaori yawned and closed her eyes since there was nothing interesting to look at in the sky.

Kaori thought about everything that had happened. From the time her village was attacked to now. Everything had changed. One moment she knew who she was, the next she wasn't quite sure. She was glad that this small group had accepted her, if they didn't she wouldn't know what to do. She realized how much of her life was that village.

But really, she didn't care much for some of the people in the village. Always superstitious because of her eyes, always rolling their eyes because Sango and her were girls. Mostly, everyone ignored Kaori. She honestly had grown not to care, living in that environment. Now that she thought about it Sango got most of the attention, being the village's leader's daughter, or just being better in their eyes period. And it wasn't just the adults she got the attention of, it was boys too.

Kaori never realized that she was so carelessly overlooked before. Maybe once or twice before but she never mused on it. Maybe she was just so set on ignoring it she never fully realized it. She'd never been jealous of Sango. Sango was looked up at and Kaori was looked down at.

Heh, Kaori thought. These thoughts are morbid. She opened her eyes to stare at the black sky and sat up. She decided that that was enough deep thinking for the night. Maybe she would just read her mother's journal.

She turned towards her cloak and noticed Miroku was still sitting there, but now with his eyes closed.

"Eh," Kaori called. "You're still here?"

Miroku jumped a bit, "Yea, there's no place more interesting to go."

Kaori shrugged, that was true enough. Though, Sango had found somewhere to go, and she wasn't telling where that was. Or _who_, but Kaori doubted she was sneaking around with a guy since she so plainly stated that she thought Kaori was a threat to her and Miroku's "Relationship." For lake of better words on Kaori's part.

Kaori walked towards her cloak, which was discarded by a tree, and sat by it. She then reached under it and pulled out her mother's journal.

"What's that?" Miroku asked curiously.

"A book." Kaori replied.

"I noticed."

"Why did you ask then?"

Miroku shut up then, obviously fed up with Kaori's sarcasm and snarky comments like many usually were.

"Bleh. I can't come up with a good enough response to that." Miroku said. So Kaori misread the silence, he wasn't annoyed he just couldn't think of a comeback. Most people would be annoyed. Kaori smirked.

"What is the book that you are holding?" He elaborated.

"It's my mother's journal." Kaori replied not looking at him. She wasn't sure why she told him. She hadn't told Kagome or Sango. She shrugged and figured she only told him to make him stop asking questions.

But that seemed to bring more questions, "Is it interesting?"

Kaori sighted and set her book aside, she began to make a fire. She wondered why she was even outside in the dark with the perverted monk. How did she even expect to read in the dark? Kaori shook her head and rolled unto her stomach once the fire was ready. She grabbed the journal and answered Miroku, "Yea, it brings back some memories of my childhood." Kaori frowned she didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Can't decide if that's good or bad?" Miroku said, reading her thoughts. Kaori thought it was creepy. "Same here, when I remember mine."

Kaori decided not to let curiosity get the better of her and nodded her head, agreeing. She opened the journal and began to read by firelight.

_Kaori and Sango were just sent on their first mission. Me and Sango's mother are going crazy with worry. The villagers of course, do not think that it is a woman's job. But Sango and Kaori will show them what's right._

_Akio was sent to track them to make sure that everything went smoothly. Since it was their first mission after all._

That little worm, Kaori thought. On that day she knew that someone was following them. Her heart filled with warmth and she smiled, but it dimmed because she knew that that was now just a memory.

_Kaori and Sango were sent to a little village that was a few miles west of the Mountain. They would ride Kirara and Akio followed on another animal._

_Brother and I have been watching Kaori closely. Age twelve is usually the age for powers to awaken but lately we haven't seen any._

Powers to awaken? Kaori frowned.

_Maybe she doesn't have any, we're hoping on that. It seems that the only trait she inherited from her father were the deep red eyes._

_Deep red eyes._

_Deep red eyes._

The words seemed to echo in her head. Kaori laid her head on top of her arms and started into the flames.

_Deep red eyes._

-:- -:- -:-

"I was happy to finally get my revenge on that place. The place of the people who took my mother." Raiden said. "I _wanted _ the jewel and I wanted revenge. At that point, I was ready to do anything.

"When we got to the village, it was already in a state of havoc. But I didn't think much of it at the time. Half the villagers were dead and the rest of it was up in flames. Several demon were already there. My father and I searched and searched. Finally we came across a girl who we suspected had the jewel, but she got away." Raiden frowned.

"My father and I were furious. Later we figured we were set up, this was simply amusement for Naraku." Sango nodded, already knowing this. "We traveled and then we came upon a shard. We got it of course and I gave to my father, he became strengthened."

Raiden's eyes darkened, "Then Naraku crossed paths. He noticed our shard, and he killed my father to get it." Raiden clenched his fists. "I tried to stop him, I couldn't."

Sango's eyes softened, "You are not weak, but let's not think about the past. All we can do is get stronger."

Raiden nodded and turned green eyes on Sango, "So what's your story?"

"Where do I start?" Sango wondered out loud. "Well, let me just say that...I don't blame you for the destruction of my village."

"Your village...?" Raiden asked, then his eyes widened as he took in her words. "Are you...a demon slayer?"

"Hai." Sango answer, lowering her eyes. Sango didn't watch for his reaction. "My village was destroyed really, for Naraku's amusement. He sent several demons looking for a shard that wasn't there. My father and several other slayers were sent to Naraku himself, who masked himself as a prince. Now there are only three slayers left, one of which is with Naraku."

"I'm sorry Sango." Raiden said softly.

Sango nodded, "My friends and I are after the jewel shards so that Naraku won't get them." She told him the names of the people of the groups then asked, "What are you doing out here, I mean what are you going to do later?"

Raiden shrugged, "I don't know, I was thinking about going after Naraku."

"Why don't you join us?" Sango didn't really know what she was saying, it just slipped out.

Raiden looked hesitant then he shook his head, "No, I want to do this alone. Besides, I'm not really comfortable being in small groups, specially with strangers."

"Oh," Sango said, wondering why she was somewhat disappointed. "I understand."

They spent the next half hour in silence, until finally Sango decided it was time to go.

"Well, I have to get going." She said. "We're leaving tomorrow morning, in case you decide to join us. If not then...I don't think I'll see you again."

Raiden nodded, "Understood. It was nice meeting you...and thanks, Sango." Raiden wondered why he _didn't _join them, when he seemed to want to.

"You too." Sango smiled and hesitated. She wondered if she should hug him or shake his hand or _something_. She walked over to him and squeezed his hand. "Stay strong."

Raiden grinned and uttered a soft, "You too." And he watched her disappear in the night.

-:- -:- -:-

Miroku watched Kaori read her mother's journal. It was probably creepy, by the didn't really have anything better to do. He thought about everything that had happened, and how they now had no jewel shards. Hopefully they would get some soon.

Miroku watched Kaori smiled at whatever was written, but it was immediately replaced with a frown. Within a few minutes her frown deepened.

Miroku sighed and rolled onto his back, he was bored and he couldn't wait until they were traveling again. He closed his eyes and thought about the dream he had again. The thought of his wind tunnel consuming him was so frightening. He thought he really needed a heir, and he wasn't do very good on making _that_ happen.

He was interrupted from his mental rant when he heard soft snoring. He sat up and looked over to Kaori who had fallen asleep on the ground on her stomach. Her hair fell softly over her face and her face glowed softly from the firelight. Miroku thought she looked peaceful and a little cute.

He wondered if he should wake her so that they could walked back to the manor. Miroku got up and walked towards her but was quickly distracted by her butt. If he groped her he'd probably die, or worse he would loose the ability to make babies. Miroku winced at the thought and dismissed the idea.

Miroku picked up his staff and poked her with it. But it seemed like Kaori refused to wake up. He reached down and poked her cheek. "Wake up."

She didn't stir.

He leaned down towards her ear and yelled, "Wake up!"

Suddenly something smashed into his cheek and he found himself falling on his back. He blinked and brought a hand up to his throbbing cheek.

"Huh?" Kaori said, sitting up. Her hair was still in her face and she shook it out. She looked curiously at Miroku, "Oh. Did I do that?"

"Yea, you punched me." Miroku answered sourly. "I was just trying to wake you up."

"Oh sorry," Kaori replied not really sorry at all. "I have excellent reflexes." She said with a grin.

Miroku grumbled to himself and picked up her cloak and her book and handed them to her.

"Thanks," Kaori said while putting out the fire. "How long was I asleep?"

"'Bout thirty minutes." H replied as they began to walk towards the manor.

"Eh," Kaori stretched and yawned. "Didn't do me much good."

"Kaori," Miroku said.

"What?" Kaori asked slightly irritably.

"Did you know that you snore?"

Kaori glared and tripped him, he made a slightly satisfactory 'Oaf' sound. "You didn't have to bring it up."

Miroku stood, "I thought it was cute."

Kaori tripped him again, she was amazed that he fell for it twice.

"Hey, there's something standing on my foot!" Miroku whined.

Kaori noticed the person too, "Oh, hey Sango." Kaori greeted her.

_Thanks for reading._

_Constructive criticism and flames are welcome._

_Reviews are love._


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